I Will Never Let That Happen
by MysticMonarch
Summary: He's a sadistic, fluffy kitten, and Marik is a hyperactive man who looks like a hyperactive woman. How could it NOT work out? Well, when the forces of the universe get involved, we'll see exactly how. Contains Thief, Wish, eventual Pride and Death. Considering an eventual change to puzzle and puppy, still up for debate.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so this is the start of my fanfiction! It's thiefshipping with many side pairings including Wishshipping, Prideshipping, and eventually Deathshipping in later chapters. Oh, and also whatever the pairing between Trystan and Serenity is.(I'm not sure what that's actually called lol) How long this fanfiction is will probably depend upon a lot of things, one of them being fanbase. So if you end up liking this, please leave a review and tell your friends. I'm going to warn you that there's some fourth-wall breaking in this first chapter, along with some humor and pointing out of plot holes.  
So, without further ado, please enjoy.

I own not Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of its gorgeous, hot, unbelievably exotic characters...

Though I'm still waiting for the virtual reality simulator that will let me meet them, and feel Marik's back.

Because that carving is sexy as frig.

~~~~~Chapter 1~~~~~~~~~  
Bakura had no clue where he was. Absolutely no clue.  
He knew he was in an alleyway somewhere on the North side of town, but that was about it. It was the rough part of town, and with every passing second he remained fear rose in his stomach and threatened to choke him.  
He'd been tracking Kaiba in attempt to reason with him about something, god, he didn't even remember what at this point. Yuugi had told him to, though, and he'd do it or his name wasn't Ryou Bakura.  
He looked around at the alleyway, trying to get a feel for his surroundings. He looked around to see where Kaiba could've gone, (though he had no clue why he'd even be on this side of town) but it seemed as if, if he was even there in the first place, he'd entirely disappeared.  
Suddenly, Bakura heard footsteps behind him, several pair coming his direction. He swung around, and ran smack dab into the source of the noise. He tentatively looked up and saw a pair of cold, seemingly black eyes staring down at him.  
"What's somebody like you doing on this side of town?" The man asked, smiling twistedly. Ryou tried to take a step back, but the man followed him, seemingly in sync. "You don't belong here."  
"H-how do you know I don't belong?" Ryou said bravely, catching the man off guard. He knew there was no way he was going to get out of this unless he acted braver than he felt. The man's eyes widened in shock only for a moment, though, and then he began to laugh.  
"It's a little Brit!" He exclaimed, and Bakura cringed.  
"It's a little limey!" One of his friends shouted. There were five in all. All of them looked absolutely terrifying and like they wanted to hurt something. Or, more accurately, someone. Their expressions twisted in the most unusual way when they laughed, and all of them were now chuckling madly.  
"Do you listen to One Direction?" Asked a third, mocking his British accent.  
"NOT all British people listen to One Direction!" He snapped, huffing. That was one of his least favorite stereotypes about brits.  
"The limey is gay!" Shouted a fourth, and then they all joined in another chorus of laughing.  
"NOT all British people are GAY!" He shouted, hoping to scare them off. It only made them laugh louder. And, the reason why it bothered him so was because he really wasn't sure. He'd put some thought into it, and decided it was something he'd explore later in life. He had too much on his plate as it was to really worry about it.  
"Well, this one's feisty." Said the leader, returning to the topic. He turned back to Ryou with purpose and continued, "Give us something valuable and we'll let you go, okay?"  
"No." Ryou spat, his thoughts automatically traveling to his Millennium Ring. He couldn't lose that. As much as he despised the person inside it, it was still a living being and he'd never forgive himself if he let something happen to him. Though the spirit probably didn't feel the same way about him. The man looked taken aback, but quickly composed himself, grinning twistedly at Ryou.  
"Oh, so we're doing this the hard way, then?" He purred, holding out his hand. One of his goons darted forward to place a twisted metal object in his hand. Ryou knew he had to think fast.  
"How about you play me in a game of Duel Monsters for my right to leave unharmed?" Bakura offered. The man looked disgusted.  
"A children's card game? Next thing you know, you'll want to duel riding a motorcycle!" He said with a laugh. Ryou scowled.  
"That's just ridiculous."  
"Touché, but let's stop with the small talk. It's time for you to pay up." The man said, seeing a flash of gold around Ryou's neck. "How about that necklace?" He asked, gesturing towards it. Ryou started to panic. He used that necklace for everything! It was essential, it had Yami Bakura's spirit within it, and it was his gaydar. He looked so bloody effeminate, he needed to make sure he knew who could be perving on him. He didn't want to be taken advantage of (even if, with his other personality, he'd put up a decent fight). He felt, in his moment of panic, Bakura take over. He'd never felt so grateful not to be in control of his body.  
"This is mine, and I'm willing to fight for it." Bakura growled, crouching slightly. Having not been paying much attention, he took a quick look around himself to see how he could best use the surroundings to his advantage.  
"Have it your way." The man said, swinging the twisted metal at the spirit's head. Bakura dodged it, but was promptly grabbed by two henchmen, and they held him still as the man walked up.  
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash as pain tore across his head. A dull throbbing started as he felt the blood begin to trickle down his face. He could feel so much blood, dripping out onto the ground. He moaned as everything started spinning, and he felt nauseous. He almost felt like he was going to throw up.  
"How about now?" The man asked, bending over to talk to Bakura, who'd unconsciously doubled over from the pain. Bakura looked like he was preparing to speak, but instead raised his head enough to spit in the man's face. "Why you…." The man snarled, raising the metal to strike him again.  
Bakura prepared for what he knew would be the last blow. What he'd thought as just a simple hit before had turned uglier than he previously expected, the dripping down his face turning into a steady flow, blood dripping and creating a crimson pool around his feet. He tensed up, ready to have to leave this body.  
The blow never came. He looked up[ to find his attacker pushed against a wall, covered in yellow lines. This was clearly the work of some kind of magic.  
"The yellow squiggly lines! They burn!" He cried. The rest of his 'loyal' group took one look at him and fled, fearing a similar fate.  
Bakura dropped to the ground, not being able to support himself. He landed in his own blood, looking down. It didn't matter if he'd had that last blow or not, he was going to die.  
"That's right, run like the cowards you are!" Marik declared, coming around the corner. His victory was short lived as he saw Bakura laying crumpled on the ground. "Are you okay?" He demanded, dropping to his knees beside him. He grabbed Bakura's head and looked into his eyes, desperate for any response.  
Bakura moaned in response, not being able to form actual words through the haze of pain that clouded his mind. Being a spirit for so long, he wasn't even used to regular pain, (though he grinned and bore it) let alone pain of this caliber.  
Marik's clothes were being stained by Bakura's blood, but for once he didn't care about clothes. There was something in him, (NOT his evil alter ego, Melvin) that desperately needed to save Bakura. He'd never been his friend, not really, just his partner. Though, he couldn't put his finger on why exactly he felt so compelled to save him, so it must've been that. Their fake, vindictive friendship. A friendship that didn't mean anything previously, but here Marik was, on his knees in a puddle of blood. That had to count for something.  
Marik slipped off his shirt, pressing it to the laceration in Bakura's skull, trying desperately to stop the heavy blood flow.  
The last thing Bakura remembered before he blacked out was being picked up and pressed against someone. Someone…warm. He looked up through his eyelashes, even though his vision was disoriented. This man was too beautiful to be human. He had to be an angel. An angel of death had come for him. A vaguely familiar angel…  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*Two days later*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Bakura woke up in a random strangers house, having no clue what happened to him, or where he was. At least Ryou hadn't taken control of his body back while he was asleep.  
He gasped and sat up, discovering that this was probably not the best idea he's ever had. The room spun around him and he crashed back down, groaning in pain.  
Marik, who had been waiting up for two days for him to wake up, ran immediately to his side. Bakura suddenly looked frightened.  
Bakura's vision hadn't quite cleared yet, so he couldn't recognize Marik. Thinking back to that night, he remembered being picked up by a vaguely familiar angel. At the moment, he was wondering what the hell he'd done to deserve being taken prisoner by an angel of death.  
Okay, so he did try to kill Yuugi and Yami. And he was a thief. And he felt no guilt over anything. And he'd hurt countless people. And he was evil. Okay, so there were a number of things he'd done to deserve it.  
"You're awake!" Marik said joyfully, looking at Bakura with intrigue.  
"…yes?" He said, rubbing his head. There were seven neat stiches in his scalp. He looked up at Marik confusedly. "What happened?"  
"Well, you got into some trouble and got jumped. From what I heard, they were trying to steal your Millennium ring. You said no, so they hit you over the head with a mutilated tire iron. Who mutilates a tire iron? Anyways, that was when I came in and saved your British bottom. You can thank me later." He said, smiling. Bakura's vision cleared some and the recognition of the voice clicked in his head, and he recognized the character at last. He could vaguely remember being hit over the head, and then Marik carrying him off. It was all coming back to him now.  
Bakura blushed deeply and mumbled something under his breath, half hoping that he wouldn't hear him. Of course, though, he did.  
"What was that, Bakura?" Marik asked, tilting his head to the side curiously.  
"I thought you were an angel of death." Bakura mumbled again. Marik laughed, having caught it that time.  
"Am I really that sexy?" Marik asked, batting his eyelashes as he usually did in situations like this. Bakura turned a bright shade of scarlet.  
"N-n-n-NO! That's not what I was implying at all! Bakura said defensively.  
"Calm down, I was only teasing." Marik said in a relaxed tone. "Plus, it would be totally normal to think I'm sexy. I mean, I do half the fanservice on this show!"  
"Hey! I do fan service, too!" Bakura said defensively, pouting.  
"Please! You don't even take your shirt off once!" Marik said. There was an awkward pause.  
"Blame it on the writing staff." Bakura said with a shrug.  
"They probably just didn't want too many fangirls to faint." Marik said with a shrug of his own. "Plus, I shouldn't get too bitter towards writing staffs. I already blamed them when Naruto and Sasuke's actual kiss wasn't in episode 3 of the English dub."  
"How do you speak English, anyways?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"According to your vague character development, you lived in a series of underground tunnels until your evil alter ego killed your father."  
"Like Timmone in Lion King 1 and a half?"  
"Touché. But my point is that you lived underground in Egypt. It's not exactly like you could go take an English, or …Japanese… or whatever the hell we're supposed to be speaking, it's not like you could go and take a class for it."  
"Maybe we had internet?"  
"No, I'm fairly sure you can't get internet in the middle of the desert for a series of underground tunnels. Plus, you were reading a book, and it wasn't fanfiction. If you had internet, you wouldn't have to read."  
"Wow. I didn't have internet? I really did have the most emotionally disturbed backstory in the entire show! Not only that, but how did I learn English?"  
"Your backstory leaves much to be desired."  
"We should probably get back to the plot now."  
"This fanfic has a plot?"  
"What, now you don't remember being attacked by a thug in a random alley?"  
"Oh, right, back to that."  
"So, are you feeling okay?" Marik asked, putting a hand on Bakura's forehead. Bakura whimpered at the contact, flinching. "Sorry!" Marik said immediately, removing his hand. Bakura sighed.  
"Good, as long as 'good' means I can feel my heartbeat in my skull and I feel like I might die. I'm doing just great!" Bakura said sarcastically. Marik stared at him in silence for a moment. "I got hit in the heat with a chunk of metal. How the hell do you think I feel?"  
"Probably bad."  
"You'd be right." Bakura said. Marik blinked, trying not to be wounded by Bakura's rudeness. With anyone else, he would've been at least ten times pissier, and Marik tried to keep that in mind as he walked over to the medicine cabinet.  
"What are you doing?"  
"I'm getting you some IB profin." Marik said, grabbing the small bottle and popping a couple of the small, red pills into his hand. He walked over to Bakura's side with a glass of water, handing him the pills. Bakura narrowed his eyes but said nothing, taking the pills and downing them with a swig of the water. "You'll need to take it easy for a while, you have a bad concussion." Marik said, and Bakura groaned.  
"I really don't like taking it easy." Bakura said, turning slightly with a wince. Moving much was certainly out of the question.  
"I'm sorry, that must be terrible for you." Marik said. Bakura winced but kept quiet. He was slightly worried that the "IB Profin" could've been drugged, but he figured that if it was 4Kids would've censored it out.  
"SO, you're the one who saved me in the alley?" Bakura asked. Even though he was the holder of an ancient Egyptian magical artifact, he couldn't just tap into the magic to just help him clear his head and relieve his head. It's commonly referred to as plot convenience.  
"Yes. I carried you to the hospital a couple blocks down the road. The doctors stitched you up and told me that after you woke up, it'd be best to get you some pain relievers and wait a couple of days before letting you walk. It's been a couple days already, but I think you should probably wait a little while longer. You have a bad concussion." Marik said. Bakura nodded his head, slowly drifting off to sleep again. He was still exhausted, and his body desperately needed to heal from the beating. That, and it gives us a convenient time for some thoughts from Marik.  
Marik watched Bakura sleeping for a few moments. Bakura looked so peaceful sleeping like that. Normally, he looked so rough around the edges, so closed to conversation. In sleep, he almost seemed… content. There was something about it that Marik couldn't put his finger on.  
Marik hesitated for a moment. Would it be okay…? They'd only even been friends to defeat the Pharoh! Their friendship had meant (supposedly) nothing, and afterwards, it had been nothing. Marik suddenly flashed back to the hospital. The sheer panic and fear that Bakura would bleed out to nothing in front of him, that he was going to lose his former… well, not-so-much-friend. Screw it. Marik thought dryly. I saved his life.  
Marik leaned forward and tentatively pressed a light kiss to Bakura's forehead.  
Instantly, Marik regretted it. This was an invasion of Bakura's personal space, he was asleep… he had a concussion for Ra's sake!  
That wasn't really what made Marik regret it, though. No, what really made him regret it was…  
Now he felt the need to press a kiss to his lips.  
Marik tore himself away, walking to go find something else to occupy himself. He wasn't going to do that, couldn't…. At least, not while Bakura was asleep.  
Not that he'd ever have the guts to try when he was awake.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much to everyone who liked, favorited, reviewed, or even just read the first chapter of this! I actually put this chapter out early because I had three different favorites, one comment, and a lot of added up views. I love all of you! Oh, and in this chapter we get into some more thiefshippy goodness, but also sets the stage up for the Wishshipping! Again, please review, favorite, tell your friends, comment! Criticism is not only welcome but encouraged!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Four more hours passed while Bakura slept soundly.  
When he awoke, he waited for his vision to clear before slowly sitting up, hoping that he would avoid another wave of nausea. He looked over groggily, hearing his neck pop at the sudden movement, and found a warm thermos sitting on the small coffee table just a couple of feet away from the couch. He picked it up and heard a peculiar rustling sound, that almost sounded like... paper. He turned it 180 degrees and found a note on it in Marik's sloppy handwriting.  
Dear Bakura,  
You need to eat to get back your strength. If this ends up getting cold before you get to it, yell for me.  
-Marik  
Bakura leaned over and picked up the soup container that Marik had left, savoring the rich warmth that radiated from the sides and into his palms.  
Noticing that there was a plastic spoon sitting already on the table, he reached for it and tore open the soup, finding that he was ravenous.  
Bakura wasn't sure what kind of soup it was, but it was absolutely delicious. He wasn't sure if it was just because he'd gone so long without food, or if Marik was a good cook, but it didn't really matter to him at that point.  
Marik strolled on out just as Bakura was slurpping the last of his noodles, and his eyes lit up upon seeing that Bakura was finally awake.  
"Thank you." Bakura said, an actual genuine thanks. It had been a few hundred years since he'd said 'Thank you' to anyone and actually meant it; he felt a little surprised that Marik was able to cause that reaction from him. "You'd make a good housewife." He teased, just because he could. Marik blushed madly, but turned away so Bakura wouldn't see it.  
"Don't mention it, Fluffy." Marik said playfully. Bakura visibly bristled, and mumbled under his breath something along the lines of 'I'm not a kitty'. Marik busted into laughter, smiling broadly. "I'm sorry, but I'd missed calling you that." He finished. Bakura scowled, but didn't comment, so Marik tried to alleviate the awkward tension. "So, are you feeling any better?"  
"I guess." Bakura mumbled, and Marik walked over to the couch. "I'd like to try and walk, though."  
Marik offered Bakura his hand, and after a moment of hesitation, he took it. Something about his hand in Marik's just felt so... so right.  
He stood up slowly, trying to make sure that his legs didn't give out from under him. Marik struggled to help him up, but managed, and Bakura stood proudly. Bakura put an arm around Marik's neck and Marik looped his arm around Bakura's waist to help him stand.  
Marik looked up at Bakura's square jawline and paused, his breath hitching slightly. He was fighting the urge to kiss Bakura like his life depended on it, and the urge became so unbearable that he forced himself to look away. He couldn't resist the temptation and glanced back again to find Bakura looking right at him. They locked eyes for a moment, intensity building in their stare.  
Bakura felt his resolve slipping. He knew Marik might hate him, but he'd been wanting to do this since they met each other. Plus, it wasn't like he didn't have an excuse. He'd just massively hit his head days ago, he could always play the helpless confused kitten. Marik wasn't always the brightest anyways; he wouldn't notice anything wrong with the lie. He'd been waiting so long to do this, and Marik's full, soft lips were right in front of him.  
Bakura leaned forward slowly, his lips coming closer and closer to Marik's. He was so close that Marik's heart was beating unevenly and his knees felt like Jell-o as he leaned ever so slightly against Bakura.  
Suddenly, there was a small knock on the door and Yuugi busted in. Bakura and Marik jumped slightly, keeping their lips close but not quite together. It was so completely obvious to any onlooker that they were just seconds away from kissing.  
"Bakura, you woke up! That's super special awe-" He cut off, observing the scene in front of him with wide and bewildered eyes. "Am I, uh, super special interrupting something?" He asked. There was a long pause in which Bakura straightened up some and cleared his throat loudly, glaring at Yuugi.  
"Well, not anymore!" Marik complained.  
"This is awkward." Yuugi stated dryly, turning back towards the door slightly. "I think I'll go ahead and go back outside for you two to be disappointed. Wouldn't want the yaoi fangirls to be disappointed. I'll be back in in like thirty seconds." He said, backing out of the apartment and closing the door.  
Marik eagerly leaned forward on his tip toes, eagerly searching for Bakura's lips. He'd been waiting for this moment ever since he realized he liked Bakura, but was too prideful to admit he wasn't straight. Or, as some people would say, he was so far in the closet that he was finding Christmas presents six months early. Bakura leaned down slightly and-  
Suddenly, the door busted open again and Joey strolled right in.  
"I wasn't gonna come along Bakura, but Yuugi made me, so-" Joey cut off, raising his eyebrows as high as they would go at the display of affection in front of him. "Okay, so apparently I'm interrupting something."  
Marik slumped. It was never going to happen if the moment kept getting ruined by these sudden interruptions. Then the yaoi fangirls would be very displeased.  
Suddenly, Yuugi appeared around the corner and grabbed Joey by the shirt collar, dragging him out of the room by force.  
"We have to give them a minute!" He said exasperatedly, marching out of the door and slamming it again.  
Marik turned back to Bakura, finding his face closer than it had been before. Apparently, Bakura was just as eager for this as he was. Marik leaned forward slowly, his breath catching in his throat and his stomach twisting in anticipation.  
Finally, Bakura's slightly parted lips met his. They were just barely a ghost, brushing against his gently. The sensation was infinitely good, but it drove Marik mad. He wanted a firmer kiss, wanted to be able to feel every inch of the Brit's lips against his own. Marik couldn't take it anymore, and leaned more into the kiss, sighing happily when Bakura did the same, maintaining dominance. Their lips were firm against each other, and it seemed like the world had stopped spinning for a moment. One could almost call the sensation disorienting; like jumping into a river that was just a little warmer than one expected. Not necessarily bad at all, just shocking that their connection was so strong.  
Yuugi had then decided that this was the perfect time to come barging back in, Joey in toe.  
"Nyeh, now I KNOW we're interrupting something!" Joey exclaimed, turning away. Marik was too concentrated on the kiss to really notice, or care about, what Joey had to say.  
Bakura pulled away slowly, letting the kiss linger longer than was strictly necessary. Yuugi cleared his throat and tapped his foot impatiently as Marik and Bakura stared into one another's eyes.  
"No, please take your time. It's not like this is getting to be super special awkward or anything." Yuugi said flatly. He glanced over at Joey to find that he was covering his eyes with his hands and held back a laugh.  
"If you insist." Bakura purred, leaning down to kiss Marik a second time.  
"Alright, you you keep at it, 4-kids with censor you from the show." Joey said disapprovingly, removing his hand from his eyes and taking a step towards Bakura and Marik.  
"And then you'll be replaced as villains by Rex and Weevle!" Yuugi exclaimed, saying Rex and Weevle's names like they were cuss words.  
"And they'll give half of your screen time to Mako Tsunami!"  
"And the show will turn into an ocean documentary!"  
"And there'll be no more children's card games!" Joey said. Bakura parted from Marik's lips, looking longingly after them as Marik began to speak. He wasn't going to risk the show turning into an ocean documentary, though.  
"Alright, we get it! You had me at taking our screen time." Marik said, pulling away from Bakura, blushing. He had to force himself to keep his eyes off Bakura, knowing that if he looked, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from kissing Bakura. He didn't want to anger 4-kids.  
Marik released his hold on Bakura slowly, making sure that he wouldn't fall before letting go completely. His head was still swirling with questions unasked, and sensations that he'd just recently gotten to feel for the first time.  
That's right, Bakura was Marik's first kiss.  
"Well, we want to hang out with Bakura to celebrate him waking up. We thought it would be super special awesome to walk to the park and play a children's card game. Because that's what teenagers do. They go to public places to play children's card games." Yuugi said.  
"The only problem is that I don't actually like you." Bakura said flatly, crossing his arms and turning his nose up.  
"Well, you're inhabiting the body of one of our friends-"  
"Whether or not he's a friend is still being discussed." Joey interrupted quickly, being sure to voice his displeasure.  
"You done?" Yuugi asked, and Joey nodded his head yes. Yuugi continued on like nothing had ever happened. "So you're coming with us." Yuugi said, then paused to look at Marik. "You can bring your girlfriend if you want."  
"He's not my girlfriend."  
"Then why did you kiss her?"  
"Yuugi; I think it's a boy!" Joey exclaimed, looking at Marik closer.  
"No freaking way!" Yuugi said, looking at Marik closer too. Faint recognition appeared in his eyes. "Wait, is that... Marik? Really, Bakura? I mean, I know he doesn't hate me anymore, but honestly... I mean, as long as you're happy." Yuugi finished off, giving Marik a disapproving look. Marik felt the heat rising to his face at getting called a girl yet again.  
"Wait!" He cried, seeing a way to redeem himself. "If you thought I was a girl, why did you say that the yaoi fangirls would be disappointed if Bakura and I didn't kiss?"  
"I wasn't sure what you were at the time. I thought you were a shemale."  
"Just because I'm not trying to kill you anymore doesn't mean it can't still be done." Marik said, his face heating up. He did not look like a shemale.  
Bakura stepped forward, deciding to take the heat out of the battle.  
"Thank you, Yuugi. I'd love to bring him." He said. Although he could technically argue about still not wanting to go, there wasn't much he could do about them having their facts straight. He was possessing their friend's body, and they had the right to make sure he was taken care of.  
Suddenly, a thought struck Bakura. Why? What did he do all of a sudden that was so darn appealing to Marik? Had Marik always liked him? He hadn't even told Marik he was gay! (Though it should've been quite obvious with his constant flirting over their short friendship). The perfect moment came along, and suddenly they were lip-locked.  
Marik had liked Bakura ever since he knew he was gay, ever since he'd laid eyes on him if he was honest with himself. In fact, most of the reason he knew he was gay was because of Bakura. Well, he might be gay; he was too prideful to even quite come to terms with it himself. He shook his head to help clear it. But...What if this was just a kiss to Bakura? He hoped not. I mean, he was going to hang out with him again. That did seem like a good sign.  
"Okay then; let's go!" Yuugi said happily, skipping down the hallway. Marik face-palmed. The kid was just way too cheery for his tastes.  
"Marik, can I put my arm around you? I feel dizzy." Bakura stated. Bakura was actually feeling just fine and dandy, but he wanted a good excuse to have Marik close again.  
Marik paused just long enough to act indifferent. He was an extremely bad actor, though, and ended up blushing madly.  
Bakura wrapped his arm around Marik's shoulders lazily, pulling him closer.  
"Don't get too cozy up there." Joey warned.  
"Well, Joey, I feel light headed. You wouldn't want me to faint, would you?" Bakura asked, stepping out the door with Marik. Joey shook his head and rushed down the hallway to catch up to Yuugi. Marik turned to Bakura, glad to momentarily be 'alone'.  
"There's something that's been bothering me." Marik said. Bakura tilted his head slightly to the side in curiosity, looking very much like a playful cat.  
"What is it?" Bakura asked.  
"Well, Fluffy," Marik started, and Bakura glared at him in return, "Why did you kiss me? I mean, we've known each other for awhile now and you've shown no prior interest." Marik said. Bakura decided not to mention the extremely obvious flirting that took place, rather than bring all of it up just now.  
"I was scared you'd react badly. I've wanted to before. After I'd hit my head, I decided to take the risk. If you reacted badly, I could always say that I thought you were a girl." Bakura said sheepishly. Marik felt relief flow through him. So this probably wasn't just Bakura messing with him. Except for one thing, the explanation checked out.  
"So... you want to do it again sometime? And do I really look that much like a girl?" Marik complained. That was the one part that didn't check out all right. I mean, just because someone looks incredibly effeminate and wears eyeliner doesn't necessarily make them look that much like a girl. Did it?  
"Yes, I'd love to do it again sometime. Yes, you do look like a girl, but... at least you look like a pretty girl." Bakura offered hopefully. Marik sighed and looked down, defeated.  
"At least I'm pretty." He sighed. "We should probably get going before they notice we were gone so long." Marik said, turning slightly towards the stairs. Bakura reached a hand up and put it gently on Marik's face, turning it back to his.  
"Right after this..." He purred, pressing his lips firmly to Marik's again. Marik gasped and put the hand that wasn't around Bakura's waist around his neck, holding him closer. He felt his knees begin to go weak again as Bakura reached up to stroke Marik's hair, their bodies pressed up against each other. Marik savored the warmth that came from Bakura.  
Bakura, of course, didn't have a single complaint. He loved the way Marik melted when they kissed.  
Marik was almost ready to admit to himself he was gay, after all.  
Bakura pulled away slowly, locking eyes with Marik. He let the hand that was on Marik's neck fall to his side lazily as they directed their course for outside.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all so much for reading, that really encourages me to continue this story! I'd appreciate it if I could get a little more reviews with anything really, helpful criticism, just chewing me out, just NO HOMOPHOBIC RETARDS WHINING THAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE STRAIGHT. Thiefshipping is so cannon. Don't be like this biker dude. Also, I would like to uncover my little secret.

I like Puzzleshipping more than Wishshipping and Prideshipping.

But I don't do Tendershipping or Bronzeshipping.

Soon, I will start to type my Puzzleshipping fanfic.

Sometime.

When I'm not super busy.

Anywho, enjoy your incredibly fluffy Wishshipping chapter.

I don't own Yugioh. If I did, I'd finally have an exact replica of Bakura and Yuugi's decks.

~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Bakura and Marik finally went outside, Joey was standing there tapping his foot impatiently.  
"Let's get going!" Yuugi said excitedly, clapping his hands together and turning to begin the walk. Joey mumbled something but followed after him reluctantly. He never seemed to shut up.  
Once they were there, they had a couple of good-natured card games between Marik and Joey and Bakura and Yuugi. The winners being both Marik and Yuugi, surprisingly enough. After that, they switched partners, and Bakura up against Joey was the first match up. Bakura began to get an idea, and smiled slightly to himself.  
"How about we make this a little more interesting for the two of us, hmmm?" He offered, looking innocent. Joey narrowed his eyes, not taken in by Bakura's cutesy ways.  
"What did you have in mind, exactly?" He asked, his voice betraying just how careful he was going to be about this.  
"If I win, I can kiss Marik all I want, and you're not aloud to say a word about it." Bakura said happily. "If you win, only once a day in front of you, and you're aloud to complain as much as you want without criticism."  
Joey contemplated the offer a moment before smiling. He was confident in his ability to beat Bakura; he'd almost beat Yuugi in Duelist Kingdom. "Deal."  
One card game later, Joey was banging his head repeatedly off of the small table, cursing himself for making that stupid bet. He wasn't good at keeping his mouth shut in the first place; let alone now that he had to.  
Bakura leaned over and kissed Marik on the lips, keeping it PG. He may have wanted a longer kiss, but they were, in fact, in public. He glanced over at Yuugi, who had left halfway through the duel, and saw him talking to a kid. Probably another one of his fans that had recognized the King Of Card Games.  
A group of bikers walked over, fresh off their shiny motorcycles. Their leader was extremely muscled, and he had a black and white Bandana. They looked mildly interested in what was going on, and he figured that only the leader actually knew why they were here.  
"That's a real pretty girl you've got there." The leader said, winking at Marik. His followers all nodded their heads in agreement with the statement. Marik became enraged immediately.  
"I. AM. NOT. A. WOMAN." He said pointedly, glaring at the entire crew. The biker showed shock before his expression changed to something entirely different.  
Disgust.  
"So you two are homo?" He asked, spitting the word like it was acid. Neither Marik or Bakura answered, too far into shock to do much else than sit there. How the hell was it any of his business?  
Joey spotted their distress and made a quick decision. Even if he didn't necessarily think of them as the best of friends, he would defend them. It was the right thing to do.  
"They're just friends. It's a friendship thing." Joey said quickly. "Friends kiss each other all the time!"he covered up. But it was too late. The pause had been too long and the man didn't believe their story.  
"No, they're dirty little homosexuals."  
"It's perfectly normal to kiss your friends! Plus, what do you have against homosexuals?"  
"My daughter is a member of West burrow Baptist church. So, if it's just a friendship thing, prove it." He challenged, glaring at Joey.  
"Excuse me?" Joey asked. How exactly was he supposed to prove something like that?  
The man gestured towards Yuugi, who was coming back from talking to the kid, and also, more importantly, had no idea what was going on. "Kiss him." He said, crossing his arms. He smirked, and it was clear from the way he held himself that he didn't expect Joey to do it.  
Joey blinked. He looked back at Yuugi in disbelief, a blush creeping onto his face. If he did kiss him, he had absolutely no clue how he'd react. He hadn't even been around to see the bikers coming!  
Bakura sighed. He couldn't expect Joey to kiss Yuugi; he'd just have to stand up for himself and Marik. Plus, even if Joey did kiss Yuugi, he couldn't guarantee that his reaction would be okay. It was a big risk and an even bigger chance of failure. Bakura opened his mouth in preparation to tell the biker off, when-  
"I'll do it." Joey said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt. He'd never kissed anyone before, let alone his best friend. Randomly!  
Yuugi came over and smiled at Joey, not catching onto his serious mood.  
"So, who won the card game? Bakura, right?" Yuugi asked. Bakura smirked despite the seriousness of the situation.  
"Oh, shut up!" Joey said playfully, swinging an arm around Yuugi's shoulder. Yuugi looked confusedly up at him. Joey wasn't usually one for physical affection. Joey drew a deep, shuddering breath and leaned forward quickly, pressing his lips to Yuugi's. Yuugi froze, and Joey decided to stick it out, keeping their lips together long enough for Yuugi to relax some.  
Yuugi relaxed, closing his eyes. At least he hadn't hit Joey. Joey pulled away and Yuugi remained silent, looking down.  
"All right, come on, guys." The biker said, leading his group away. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Yuugi turned to Joey.  
"Okay, doing that when I wasn't expecting it was so not super special awesome. If you wanted to kiss me or something, you could've just asked. I can tell something happened; what's up?"  
Ten minutes, a whole lot of apologizing, and even more explaining later, Yuugi was fully aware of the situation.  
"It's no problem Joey, I probably would've done the same thing." Yuugi said, shrugging it off. "Plus, it doesn't really matter. Friends should be able to kiss each other."  
"I don't know about that last part, but okay." Joey said. After that, they got back to playing children's card games.  
All in all, everyone had a good time. At the end of the day, Joey and Yuugi went to Yuugi's house to hang out with Tae.  
"Hey, Yuugi. Tae came to visit!" Yuugi's Grandpa said cheerfully.  
Thanks, Grandpa! Do you have that new Truth or Dare game card game?" Yuugi asked. His grandpa beamed and dissapeared for a moment. When he appeared, there was a brand new box in his hands.  
"Just got it in today." He said, handing the box to Yuugi. "Why don't you and your friends try it out for me?"  
"Okay, Grandpa! Thanks!" Yuugi said, running upstairs with Joey following closely behind. Needless to say, these kids needed to get a life.  
Yuugi ran upstairs to find Tae waiting in his room.  
"Hey Yuugi!" She said excitedly.  
"Hey, Tae!" He greeted back, smiling at her. "Do you want to play that new Truth or Dare card game?"  
"Sure, how do you play?" She asked, looking mildly curious. Yuugi turned the box over and read out loud.  
"The 'dealer', also known as the person holding the card deck, flips over a card with either truth or dare. Everyone except the dealer must complete it. Each turn, the dealer is switched." He read, taking out a package of cards and shrugging. "I'll be the dealer first." He said, shuffling the deck thoroughly before grasping the top card and flipping it over.  
"It says, 'tell everyone your worst fear'." Joey said, gulping. He cringed, looking at Tae. "You go first."  
"My biggest fear is that someone will ruin the Harry Potter books for me and all of my fanfiction will be useless." Tae said, shuddering.  
"Tae, you've been working on the sixth book for four months now." Yuugi said flatly.  
"I'm a slow reader, okay?!"Tae replied, sulking.  
Joey contemplated what to say.  
"My biggest fear is that everybody will make fun of me for being a furry." Joey admitted sheepishly.  
"Joey, everyone already does that."  
"NOT EVERYONE!"  
"Just keep telling yourself that." Yuugi said, shaking his head.  
"Can I deal?" Tae asked, taking the deck from Yuugi. Yuugi shrugged as Tae flipped a card off the top immediately, having no patience.  
There was a long pause as Joey and Yuugi read the card and then sat in awed silence.  
"You have got to be freaking kidding me." Yuugi said flatly.  
"'Kiss someone in the room'?" Joey asked, his eyes widening. Tae's eyes lit up like a child who'd just received a new dueling deck.  
"I don't have to do this dare. That means you two have to kiss!" She announced with a wicked glint in her eyes. She tended to be a major fangirl, and yaoi was no exception from her long lists of fandomes. Joey started to argue with it, but Tae interrupted with, "And if it's not good enough, you'll have to do it again!"  
"Tae, that's not-"Joey started, but was cut off again by Tae, who doesn't know how to keep her big mouth shut.  
"I'm dealer, I decide the rules." She countered stubbornly. Joey put his face in his hands and let out a long, frustrated sigh. He, least of all, wanted things between him and Yuugi to become awkward, and he was scared that was where things were headed. He finally pulled his head out of his hands and looked at Yuugi, who seemed calm enough. Then again, Yuugi did have an amazing game face.  
"Let's get this over with." Yuugi said, scooting closer to Joey to slowly close their distance.  
Joey could feel Yuugi's body heat and he gulped, staring at his lips.  
"It has to last five Mississippi and have at least one head turn to count." Tae said, smirking. Tae really is one evil fangirl.  
Yuugi leaned forward with lips slightly parted. Joey's lips met his and they both melted from the warmth, Joey pressing further into the kiss. Joey reached up to put a hand around Yuugi's neck and Yuugi responded by leaning more into it. Their lips parted momentarily and they both turned their heads, pressing their lips back together softly. Yuugi let out a small sigh.  
Tae smiled. Their time had been up for three seconds and neither of them seemed to care or notice.  
Of course, Yuugi's grandfather chose that exact time to walk on in with a plate of snacks.  
"Hey Yuugi, I ha-" He cut off, seeing Joey and Yuugi in lip-lock. "Is this a bad time?"  
Yuugi and Joey broke apart, Yuugi blushing madly.  
"Grandpa, it's not what it looks like! It was a card in the game that said you had to kiss someone, and Tae was exempt from the dare because she was the dealer!"  
"Okay, Yuugi. We're still having a talk later." His Grandpa said, setting down his tray of cookies and juice boxes. Because I don't care how old or how gangster you are, you'd still enjoy a juice box.  
He exited the room, shaking his head. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Tae started dying laughing.  
"I want to hear this talk, Yuugi." She said slightly suggestively, before bursting out in another fit of giggles.  
"It's not funny! Now my grandpa thinks I'm gay!"  
"Yeah, what if he doesn't let me come over an more?" Joey said worriedly. He really enjoyed going over to Yuugi's house. It was like his personal escape from his own house.  
"That won't happen, the worst that could is that you'll have to start sleeping downstairs when you stay over. Still, that talk is going to be super special awkward!" Yuugi said, groaning. Tae calmed down her laughter but still wore a smug smirk, not really caring.  
"You guys will thank me when you end up together. You totally like each other." Tae pointed out.  
"WHAT?!" Joey and Yuugi both said in unison. Tae laughed again, he eyes still gleaming. She really was having fun torturing the two.  
"Don't freak out, I was mostly kidding. Mostly." Tae said, not really meaning it.  
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, with Joey and Tae both going home around eleven.  
Back at Marik's apartment, more of the plot line unfolds.


	4. A Card For Every Occasion

Okay! I apologize for how horrifically homosexua- I mean, late this is. An entire week past when I was planning on having this chapter out! UGH! Well, there shouldn't be any problems now with me being so super late, but if there is, I'll put out two chapters to make it up to you. (NOTE: Only if I'm more than three days late again.)

For those of you who aren't aware, I've decided to make this a bi-weekly update thing.

This will go for most of my stories, including the start of the new one I'm posting today, Remembrance.

I really want to see a hallmark card for coming out to your parents/friend/family.

Also, I'm going to start titling, or title-ing, or however you want to say it, these chapters. If you have any suggestions for the first three chapter's titles, then I'd love to hear them in the reviews.

I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH!

~~~~~~~~~Chapter 4~~~~~~~~  
Marik helped Bakura up the stairs. Partially because of the concussion, and partially because he just really wanted him to be close. They arrived and Marik opened the door, but only after fumbling with the keys. He still found some of that stuff difficult to use.  
"You should stay at my house a couple more days before you go home, since you're on your own." Marik said. Bakura did still have a concussion, and something bad could happen and nobody would know. He didn't want to lose Bakura. Bakura nodded his head and walked over to flop down on the fluffy couch. The ex-tomb keeper liked the luxury of comfort, since it was something he had lacked for most of his life prior.  
Marik rolled his eyes and opened his cabinets, trying to decide what to cook for glanced at Bakura all sinked into the couch and smirked. This would make an amazing blackmail picture.  
"Is there anything specific you want for dinner?" He asked. Marik, after branching out on his own, had promptly discovered that he needed to learn how to cook. He'd picked up a few books and watched a few youtube videos, and discovered that he had a knack for it and it was something he enjoyed. His dream was to one day get a job as a chef to support himself, since he wasn't quite comfortable now living off the family fortune that had been passed down to him from his father, who had sold some of the Pharaoh's old items to a museum. He was, however, only allotted so much a month due to the limits Ishizu had set on the account.  
"Surprise me." Bakura mumbled, bringing him back to the present.  
Marik walked back into the kitchen, deciding on fish. He turned on the radio while he worked. He battered the fish and popped it in the oven, starting on a nice, tangy mustard sauce. He cut the things required and began to let it simmer in the pot, all the while singing along to mostly lady Gaga songs.  
Bakura was almost asleep when he thought of it. The radio started blaring the perfect song, A Thousand Years. He got up quietly and crept into the kitchen silently.  
Marik had just finished and was ready to leave the sauce to simmer when he felt a pair of strong arms snake around his waist. He tensed momentarily before he realized that it was Bakura and immediately melted into the touch, leaning back against him.  
"Would you like to dance?" Bakura purred in his ear.  
"Um... yes?" Marik said, confusion clouding his mind. Bakura always had this effect on him; he was incredibly distracting.  
Bakura backed up and Marik turned around. Bakura put his hands around Marik's waist, pulling him close. Marik wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck and they began to sway steadily to the slow beat. After a moment, Bakura felt the need to talk.  
"You know, this song is incredibly ironic." He said, smiling a little. Marik tilted his head to the side a little, intimidating Bakura's curious look.  
"Why?"  
"Because I really have been waiting thousands of years to find someone who completes me."Bakura responded with a chuckle.  
"You know, sometimes I forget how old you are. That doesn't make this pedophilia, does it?"  
"Well, no. You're over age and I have the body of someone who is seventeen. Weird, yes. Confusing, yes. Pedophilia, I think not."  
"Agreed. I mean, it wasn't pedophilia in Twilight."  
"I don't read crap, Marik."  
"The books are better than the movies! Plus, this song was in Breaking Dawn." Marik said, defending one of his favorite books.  
"I guess." Bakura said, ending their conversation.  
They danced gracefully across the floor, bodies touching just barely. They locked eyes and the world seemed to Marik as if it had stopped spinning on its axis. Time stood still as he parted his lips slightly and Bakura leaned forward to push their lips together softly.  
Marik melted, feeling his world quickly turn into pure bliss. He wasn't completely sure, but... he thought he may love Bakura.  
Bakura slowly moved his lips, loving the sway of Marik's body against his own, completely losty in how overwhelmed he felt. In an amazing, newly discovered way. He was certainly happy, and... He thought that maybe he could end up liking Marik a little more than he anticipated... maybe... maybe he already did. Maybe he loved him.  
Suddenly, a throat was cleared behind them. Bakura jumped and reluctantly pulled away, mumbling under his breath, "Are we always going to be interrupted like this?"  
He turned abruptly, taking in the Egyptian that now stood in front of him. He had wide, hoop like earrings, a turban, and he was wearing the Millennium key around his neck like a necklace. Bakura knew this man, and he knew that he typically only showed up when something was really, terribly wrong.  
"Shadi?" Marik asked, slightly concerned.  
"You may want to sit down. I'm actually going to tell you about something before it happens this time." He said, walking out into the living room. He set himself down on the couch and turned off the television, Bakura and Marik following his example and sitting extremely close to each other on the other end of the couch. Bakura reached a hand out to grasp Marik's. Marik looked incredibly nervous. I mean, who could blame him?  
The first time he'd met Shadi, he'd switched personalities and killed his own father. You couldn't exactly blame him, especially knowing he had another prediction to make. He'd just recently found happiness, and he didn't feel like losing it so quickly.  
Marik and Bakura both waited in silence before Shadi started speaking, and the tension in the room could be cut with a knife.  
"You two really got in deep this time. Both of you are possessors of Millennium items, and one of you are the spirit of one of them. The millennium items are naturally very close, and when you two fell in love, it cracked the fourth wall. There was too much of a concentration of magic to contain." He stated.  
Marik immediately opened his mouth to argue that no, he was not in love with Bakura, but then he shut it, looking down and blushing. He glanced up at Bakura to find him blushing too, something Bakura hardly ever did. Shadi did say... did this mean that Bakura liked him back? Marik's eyes met Bakura's briefly, and his suspicions were confirmed. He felt like he could absolutely burst with pride and joy. Bakura was his now. Then Shadi had to go and burst his bubble.  
"Unless you find a way to get one other Millennium spirit with someone that negates his energy, then you two can't be allowed near each other." He finished.  
"W-What?" Marik stammered, shock and fear of the truth in his words radiating through his body. Bakura released his hand and put an arm around him from behind, pulling him against himself protectively.  
"You're NOT taking him away from me, especially when we just found each other." Bakura said protectively.  
"I won't have to when the fourth wall collapses." He countered, "You'll both be dead, along with the rest of humanity. But, y'know, please keep up your entire silly affair. Don't worry about the fate of the entire world or anything."  
"Is there any way you could make it to where we could be together?" Marik asked, ignoring Shadi's other comments.  
"Like I just told you, find another millennium spirit and pair him with someone who negates their energy." Shadi said simply.  
"Someone who negates his energy?" Bakura asked, confused.  
"How do we do that?" Marik asked, still concerned that they wouldn't be able to make it work. They'd not been together long, but he could already tell that without Bakura, a piece of himself would be missing.  
"You have to find something or someone that goes against the nature of a millennium item spirit, and put them together." Shadi said.  
"What the bloody hell does that mean?"  
"You have to figure it out yourself. It's part of the balance."  
"You don't even know what it means, do you?"  
"No, I don't, but if it's any consolation, I brought Ishizu here to help you figure it out." Shadi said with a shrug.  
"YOU BROUGHT MY SISTER HERE?!" Marik shouted, panicking. Bakura leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek lightly.  
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Shadi asked.  
"Well, she doesn't exactly know some things..." Marik replied, flinching.  
"Your sister knows. She's an incredibly powerful psychic."  
"She's about as accurate as the weather man." Marik replied flatly.

"Or the history channel." Bakura mumbled darkly.  
"It was obvious. It doesn't take a psychic to see that you wear women's clothing and jewelry. Not only that, but you care more about your hair than her."Shadi said, rolling his eyes. Bakura muffled a laugh, earning a glare from Marik.  
"Hey! I'm just stylish!" Marik exclaimed, pouting. "Plus, I'm not that effeminate."  
"Marik's point is that he's afraid she won't accept him." Bakura said, and Marik turned to him with surprise evident in his lavender eyes. Bakura had picked up a couple of tricks over the millenia, and he knew how to read people. Marik was no exception, especially when he knew him so well. Bakura was practiced, and he was hardly ever wrong.  
The only annoyance was that he couldn't tell when someone liked him, and looking back he saw that Marik and himself probably would've been together long before they were if he had.  
"I can't help you there. She has your address and will be at your house if you don't go to her hotel. Better think of a good way to tell her. I'd suggest a nice card."  
"A card? What the bloody hell would it say?" Bakura mused, thinking of several frazes to use before finally settling on one, " 'Hey guess what, I'm horrifically homosexual!'?"  
"Well, Hallmark does have a card for every occasion." Marik commented dryly, sulking. He looked pale, which was quite a feat considering his mocha chocolate skin.  
"Well, excuse me. My job here is done, I'm going to the subway to freak some people out. Sometimes I am glad I look so much like a terrorist." Shadi said, getting up and walking out.  
"Well, that was certainly abrupt." Bakura commented, wrinkling his nose. He'd never really liked Shadi. Marik's tension and silence brought him back to the present and he looked down at him. After a lengthy pause, Marik sighed, and as the tension left his body, sank against Bakura and snuggled into his warm chest.  
"This is bittersweet." Marik mused, his voice full of half-there humor. "I find out that you share my feelings, which makes me incredibly happy, but we can't be together unless we figure this out. Plus, I have to come out of the closet to my sister. To be honest, that may end the world before all this does it in."  
"Listen, if your sister doesn't accept it, it's her own fault. As for the fourth wall collapsing if we don't figure this mess out, I WILL NOT lose you, I swear." Bakura said, passion igniting in his eyes. He settled down a bit, gazing into Marik's eyes and melting. "I will never let that happen."  
Marik leaned forward eagerly and Bakura responded, kissing him heatedly, as if to seal his promise.  
Suddenly, the timer beeped, causing both of them to jump. It was time for Marik to take the fish out of the oven.  
After he and Bakura had eaten dinner, (mostly in an awkward silence to avoid talking about everything that had happened) they sat on the couch, watching television. However, neither of them were paying attention, too lost in thought to really concentrate on something as mediocre as television.  
Bakura was worried about Marik, to be blunt. He was acting like telling his sister was going to be the end of the world. How bad could telling his sister be? He looked deathly pale, almost sick. For a moment, Bakura thought about getting him a bucket in case he was going to be sick. He waved away the thought, though. Marik hadn't eaten much, anyway, which in itself concerned him. So, Bakura decided that he needed a bit of a... distraction.  
Marik was deep in thought when Bakura's arms wrapped around him for the second time that night. Even though he was worried, he melted into the touch, his mind clearing of everything except Bakura. It always seemed like things were so much simpler with Bakura, from the beginning. He'd always find ways to simplify his plans and keep him on the right track. Everything was always okay, as long as Bakura was there.  
Bakura snuggled up against Marik, pressing their bodies together. Marik sighed as Bakura began tracing patterns on his shoulders, concentrating on that.  
"Just calm down, everything will be okay. Bakura said. Marik relaxed a little, letting Bakura distract him. When he was fully relaxed and furthermore, sure that he could go to sleep, he left to go to bed, leaving Bakura with a quick kiss.  
Tomorrow would be a long day.


	5. Not a puzzleshipping fic

Hey guys! MysticMonarch here! I've hit TOTAL writer's block on this story -_- of course, this won't affect you guys until like chapter eleven or so... (yes, I'm that far ahead. No, not in typing it out. I'm only done with like chapter 7 there. ) But...

This is by far my favorite chapter so far. It was SO MUCH fun to write, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

(All of the four people following this story -_-)

~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 5~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Yuugi's house, his grandfather was attempting to talk to him about something he knew nothing about.  
"So... it's different... in the way that... it's not the same."  
"You don't say, grandpa?"  
"I do say."  
"Look, I was forced to do it. It was a card in the game."  
"Remind me later to move that game to the adult section." Yuugi's grandpa said. There was a long, awkward pause in which neither male knew what to say. Eventually, Yuugi's grandpa broke it, saying, "Well, I'm glad we had this chat, Yuugi."  
"Okay, Grandpa." Yuugi said quickly, trying and failing to hide his true relief over the matter. Thank Ra that talk was over with.  
Yuugi jumped off the stool he was sitting on and ran immediately upstairs. As he tackled the steps, he mumbled something along the lines of, 'Well I'm certainly glad that's over with.'  
When he finally reached his room, he flopped down on his bed and half-groaned. That talk had been even worse than he was expecting.  
Suddenly, Yami was sitting by him on the bed, his legs crossed.  
"Yuugi, stop pouting." He demanded, bored. He wanted to do something, and Yuugi was his only source of entertainment.  
"I am not pouting." Yuugi said defensively. "You have no clue what I've been through the last few days. Where have you been, anyways?"  
"I found a way to explore various people's soul rooms." He said, smirking.  
"Why, isn't that an incredible invasion of people's privacy?" Yuugi asked skeptically. The Pharaoh's smirk grew wider.  
"Yes, yes it is. But it's fun!" He said, causing Yuugi to roll his eyes.  
"Point taken." He agreed flatly. "The point is; I've had a rough few days. I'm kinda confused right now. I kissed... someone, by complete accident." He admitted, burying his face in his pillow. The Pharaoh's eyes lit up with curiosity at the mention of such an event.  
"Who?" The Pharaoh asked quickly, shaking Yuugi. "Tell me!" He commanded. There was really no keeping information from him once he wanted it. He could be incredibly demanding, and if it came down to it, forceful. There was no denying him information.  
"It's... Well, it may surprise you." Yuugi said cautiously.  
"It's Joey, isn't it?"  
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW?!"  
"Well, you are my reincarnation, the other half of my soul, whatever the hell we are. There was no way you were straight. Plus, the two of you obviously have a spark."  
"Hey! I'm not gay!" Yuugi said, beginning to blush madly.  
"Just keep telling yourself that." Yami replied, flipping his hair. Tormenting Yuugi would be enough fun for now. He loved to tease him.  
""Why did you come here anyways?" Yuugi asked. Despite being bored, the Pharaoh did have another reason for coming.  
"Oh, right." He said, his mind getting on track. "I felt something wrong with the fourth wall, and it has to do with the Millennium items. I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid or if there's really something there, but either way we should check it out. If something is wrong, we need to fix it at all costs." Yami said.  
"That sounds kinda urgent, Pharaoh." Yuugi said uneasily, feeling fear start to creep in. He didn't want to save the world again. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"  
"Because making fun of you for being totally gay is much more fun."  
"I. AM. NOT. GAY."  
"Right. I'll believe that when you and Joey go another two weeks without kissing." Yami replied with a snort.  
"You know, sometimes I wish you would've stayed dead."  
Yami recoiled, feeling the sting of that comment.  
"You sound as mean as Bakura right now." Yami said, turning away to hide the tears that were coming to his eyes. Yuugi moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder, knowing that he'd gone a little too far.  
"I'm sorry." He said gently. The Pharaoh relaxed and looked up at him a little hopefully. "Well, that's enough, this isn't a puzzleshipping fic." Yuugi reminded him, scooting away. "What do we do about the fourth wall?"  
"Well, you need to contact the othe Millennium item holders and see if they've found anything out." Yami said, still dissapointed that this is not, in fact, a puzzleshipping fic.  
"Okay, point taken. So... have you been to Joey's soul room yet?"  
"Yes, actually. I can't believe you have a crush on such a furry. I mean, seriously, he has like five dog costumes in there. He wishes he were a dog."  
"Joey's not a furry! I mean... I don't like Joey!"  
"He wants his crush to call him puppy. By the way, that's you."  
"Really?!" Yuugi asked excitedly, sitting up straighter. His eyes lit up at what was implied.  
"I don't know. You can't actually tell people's crushes from their soul rooms, I just wanted to see your face." Yami said. Yuugi blushed madly again.  
"SCREW YOU, PHARAOH!"  
"Yuugi, I thought you said this wasn't a puzzleshipping fic!"  
"I DIDN'T MEAN LITERALLY!" Yuugi said, and Yami laughed.  
"I wouldn't blame you if you did. Have you seen my body?" The Pharaoh asked.  
"Will you just go back to doing what you were doing before you started bothering me?" Yuugi asked flatly.  
"Alright, sweet dreams, Yuugi."  
"Whatever, Pharaoh." Yuugi said, crossing his arms stubbornly. The Pharaoh slowly faded out, regressing back inside the puzzle.  
Yuugi closed his eyes, trying not to reflect on all of the thoughts racing through his head.  
In the morning, Bakura and Marik were standing outside of the only hotel close enough to actually be the place in which Ishizu was staying. They didn't want her coming to Marik's appartment, because that would make him uncomfortable. She was bad about picking on him for his living style, and he didn't want to deal with the pressure of having her over. Even if she didn't say anything, he knew what would be going through her mind.  
"Well, this is it." Marik mumbled darkly, shivers going up his spine. He was way too nervous. He felt like he was going to shake apart. The moment of truth had arrived.  
Bakura looked over, concern shining in his orange eyes. He reached down and grasped Marik's hand. Although he was not a fan of public displays of affection, he knew that Marik needed him right now, and nothing would stop him from holding his hand. He'd get over it, as long as Marik was okay.  
"It'll be okay." He whispered in Marik's ear, squeezing his hand lightly.  
Marik's violent quakes turned to a subtle quiver as he turned to Bakura. He leaned his head on his shoulder and sighed, letting some of the tension leave his body.  
After he regained his composure, he pulled back, leaving the only sign of their moment being Bakura's hand still resting in his. He didn't think he could bear to let it go, either way.  
Bakura lead as the pair walked briskly inside, going straight to the counter and putting his elbow up on it. The way they were standing, it disguised the fact that they were still grasping eachother's hands like a lifeline.  
"We need the room that Ishizu Ishtar is staying in." He demanded, not bothering with the formalities. The younger girl behind the counter was reading a magazine, and you could tell by looking at her that she had a bad attitude.  
"What's it to-" She started, but paused when she looked up. Her eyes softened and her whole body seemed to melt, like she was in a trance. Her voice softened and she finished with a polite, "You."  
Marik felt a surge of jealousy rush through him. She had no right, no right to flirt with Bakura. Bakura was his now, and he didn't feel like changing that any time soon. He felt his anger replace his nerves and he stood up tall as he moved closer to Bakura, trying to convey the message that we were more than just friends.  
"She's my sister." He spoke up, glaring at her. She turned to him and instantly mistook his glare for a smolder, melting even more. She checked him out, and clearly found something that she liked. She was absolutely oblivious to the lack of space between them. This time, it was Bakura's turn to get jealous.  
A low growl sounded in his throat, barely audible but still very much there.  
"Well, for a couple of fine gentlemen like you," She purred, but her eyes were trained on Marik, "I suppose I could give you her room number."  
"Thank you." Marik said flatly, hiding the triumph he felt at redirecting her attention from Bakura. He didn't even notice that she was now flirting with him now, until she passed him a slip of paper.  
"One side has your sister's room number, the other has the number for my phone. For either of you." She said, turning and winking at Bakura.  
"Thanks, but we're not really interested." Bakura snapped, turning and walking away, pulling Marik along.  
The girl was extremely pretty, and she'd hardly ever been turned down before.  
When she finally noticed their interlocked hands, confusion shone in her eyes. Bakura stopped right before they approached the stairs and leaned down to kiss Marik passionately, erasing his mind of all previous thoughts. The girl's mouth dropped open in absolute shock as Bakura and Marik turned and sprinted up the stairs. It figured, though. All good men were taken or gay. Or, apparently, both.  
As soon as they got up the stairs and around the corner, Marik stopped dead in his tracks. Bakura turned and looked at him curiously.  
Marik started laughing madly, so hard that it jerked his body a little. Bakura joined in, too, only then realizing the humor of the situation.  
"I-I-" Bakura started, but then cut off abruptly, biting his lip. He wasn't about to be the first to say it, even if they both already knew it. Luckily, Marik knew exactly where it was going. He reached out and pulled Bakura close, his heat radiating to his toes.  
They both knew it. Shadi had said it himself. There was just something about saying it to eachother, something that seemed to make it that much more special.  
"I love you." Marik whispered. Bakura leaned down and kissed him, and this kiss was anything but passionate. It was loving and caring, and it made Marik's heart melt. He knew that this was a side of Bakura nobody else would ever see, and he was grateful for that.  
"I love you, too." Bakura mumbled against Marik's lips. Marik felt like he was going to burst from the joy that welled up inside of him. Marik wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck happily, leading the kiss deeper.  
Bakura was happy, too. He'd spent so much time... thousands of years, to be exact... searching for love. Now, he knew he'd found it. He'd found his other half.  
He'd finally found Marik.  
Both of them were so wrapped up in the kiss that they didn't notice the light footsteps that were walking briskly towards them. Suddenly, somebody cleared their throat behind them. More specifically, Ishizu cleared her throat behind them.  
Bakura reluctantly pulled away, turning towards the sound of the voice. When he noticed it was Ishizu, he felt Marik stiffen. This was probably not the best way to come out to your sister.  
"If you're done sucking face now, you could give your sister a proper greeting." Ishizu said, rolling her eyes.  
"Umm... Hello, sister." Marik said, practically shaking in his boots. He put his arms to his sides and Bakura did the same, releasing the hold they had on eachother.  
"So, Shadi told me most of what's wrong with the fourth wall. He didn't tell me the two millenium item holders that had been... joined, but I guess I've figured that out by now." She said pointedly, looking between Marik and Bakura. "Not that I'm surprised. Marik obviously had a thing for you from the beginning."  
"Do you know how to fix the fourth wall?" Bakura inquired, partally to change the subject (before Marik fainted).  
"I have a better idea than Shadi."  
"Then we need you. We need all the help we can get." Bakura said gravely.  
"Come with me." Ishizu said, waving her hand and walking briskly back down the hallway.  
Bakura weaved his fingers back through Marik's and walked with him, always keeping him close. There was something that activated in Bakura when Marik was acting so vulnerable. He needed to protect him, a need so poweful... he couldn't even describe it. NOTHING would hurt Marik on his watch, or he'd... Well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty for whoever had tried. Bakura tended to enjoy hurting people.  
They better hope they were used to knives.  
Finally, Ishizu came to a stop outside the door, fiddling with the lock for a moment before a small click let them know that they had been granted access.  
Although it was small, Ishizu's room had table conveniently placed, and a small fridge rested on a shelf with a coffee maker. The table already had three chairs placed at it.  
"Go ahead and sit." Ishizu said, sitting down herself. Bakura grabbed one of the two remaining chairs and scooted it closer to the other, gesturing for Marik to sit. He made it a point to put his arm around Marik's waist once they sat, glaring at Ishizu as if daring her to say anything.  
"So... what the millennium necklace tells me is that one thing can be cancelled out by the same."  
"Oh, look, finally algebra does have a use in daily life!" Marik exclaimed sarcastically, and then added, "Other than giving teacher's jobs."  
Bakura was just happy that he had been able to talk with how nervous he was acting.  
"So what you're saying is that if we get someone who is the opposite of a millenium spirit together with that particular millennium spirit, this entire problem will be fixed?" Bakura asked.  
"I believe so, yes."  
"So, would it work to get my host with Marik's alter ego?" He asked. Ishizu shook her head. "Why the hell not?"  
"Because shut up." She said dryly. Marik mumbled something about Ishizu's logic being lacking, but then a long silence passed with no one speaking. "If you must stay together."  
"We are staying together. Ishizu, you saw that in the hallway, and I'm sick of worrying about what you will think. Bakura loves me, and I love him. We're not about to break up." Marik said bravely, having finally snapped. He couldn't let anyone else's oppinions control his life, and his heart was telling him to stay with Bakura. It always has been.  
Bakura blinked in complete shock. Marik had actually stood up for himself. Not only that, but he felt a blush move to his cheeks. Marik had just admitted to his sister that they loved each other.  
"I'm just worried that he's a bad influence, Marik." She said after a moment of silence.  
"The worst influence." Bakura said correctively, beaming with pride. Ishizu glared at him for a moment.  
"Just don't break his heart, Thief King. He is my brother, and I love him."  
"Believe me, I'll make sure he's not hurt." Bakura promised. Ishizu thought a moment before her response.  
"Okay. I believe you, Thief King. What I was going to say before Marik interupted me was that I'd suggest getting Yami with his opposite. Since Bakura is friends with Yuugi now and all." she said.  
"Not really friends. It's more like he hangs around me and I make a concious effort not to strangle him. As much as I hate the Pharaoh, I don't want another fight."  
"The point is that you can get his cooperation." She snapped, but then quickly regained her composure. "That's all I know. But, if Yami decides he's too good to do this, you'll have to make him fall in love. Or at least find him someone to play childrem's card games with."  
"Well if there was any way to make him fall in love with himself, then we'd be set!" Marik said.  
"Oh, he's already in love with himself, Marik." Ishizu teased back.  
"Yuugi!?" Bakura gasped, and Ishizu rolled her eyes.  
"Not a puzzleshipping fic." She reminded him, and he slumped in his seat.  
"Thank you for everything, Ishizu." Bakura said sincerely, getting over the little burn. He was just happy that she hadn't crushed him completely the way Marik had seemed to expect her to.  
"Well, that's quite alright. As long as I get to stay in contact with Marik, I'm fine." She said, pausing. Her eyes softened. "I care about my brother."  
"I care about you, too, Ishizu." Marik said, getting up to hug her tightly.


	6. Unexpected Guests

Have a good read :-) I do really like this chapter, and would like to thank those who followed. I've not actually gotten any reviews for this story except on DA, so I would appreciate some more ff.n reviews. Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 6~~~~~~~~~~  
Walking, Bakura held Marik's hand. He was so incredibly scared of losing him to protect the fourth wall. There was no way he could do that, no way he could just drop Marik. He was like a drug. He was so alluring and addicting, giving Bakura feelings of happiness that he hadn't felt since he lost everything to the Pharaoh. Marik was far too precious to him. He didn't think he could just quit him.  
It was a dangerous line they were treading, knowing that even if they were to fail, they wouldn't stay away from each other.  
Yuugi answered the door, and he did not receive what he was expecting.  
He'd invited Joey over to hang out, and he'd expecting it to be him at the door. Instead, it was Bakura and Marik.  
"Umm... do you guys want to come in?" He offered, stepping aside. Bakura wordlessly charged in, ready to get down to business. Marik came in more gracefully, nodding his head to Yuugi in thanks.  
"Have you heard about the fourth wall?" Bakura demanded immediately. Yuugi looked put off guard, but not too surprised.  
"Yeah, do you have any information?" He asked, letting his head tilt to the thought it was kinda cute.  
"I know it happened because we-" He said, gesturing between himself and Marik, "Fell for each other."  
"What?"  
Ten minutes later, everything else was finally explained, after many tedious repeats and questions.  
"So, we have to find the Pharaoh his opposite to get the fourth wall repaired?" He asked flatly. "Do you know how hard it is to get the Pharaoh to do something? He won't be with anyone who doesn't perfectly fit him. " Yuugi reminded them.  
"Look, we're well aware of how hard it will be to convince him. What we're asking is if you'll help us or not?" Bakura asked, leaning on the counter.  
"Yes." Yuugi agreed finally. "But I don't know how. Do you have any idea who his opposite even is? Or if not, how to find them?"  
"We could try a dating site." Marik suggested sheepishly, knowing the idea would be shot down.  
"That's completely ridiculous." Bakura said with a scowl. Marik rolled his eyes and sighed.  
"I was just trying to be helpful. Plus, it could work!  
"What do we put? 'Looking for the opposite of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, email if interested'?"  
"Now you're being ridiculous!" Marik said flatly.  
Just then, the doorbell rang. Yuugi began to blush heavily and shouted, "I'll get it!"  
Yuugi ran to the door quickly, opening it to see Joey's smiling face.  
"Hey, Yug'. How's it hanging?" He asked, leaning against the door. Suddenly, the sound of an argument reached his ears.  
"There's no way that would work!" Someone shouted. Odd, it almost sounded like... Bakura's voice.  
"Why don't we at least try it?" Marik responded. Yeah, that was definitely Marik. What were these two doing at Yuugi's house...? He looked at Yuugi for an explanation and his smile was replaced by a look of annoyance. He sighed dramatically.  
"You should probably come in. We have a bit of a problem to explain to you." He answered his unspoken question, opening the door sheepishly.  
Bakura and Marik stopped arguing just long enough to explain to Joey what was happening. Joey sat there for a moment before he happily chimed into Bakura and Marik's argument.  
"I don't like that idea. Yami would need someone attractive to actually be okay with everything. Dating sites won't work."  
Bakura grinned and looked at Marik as if to say, 'I told you so!'.  
"But I have an idea that might. Yami needs someone that he at least has something in common with for a relationship to work. We need to look for his opposite at a children's card game tournament." Joey said factually. Yuugi's eyes lit up.  
"That's a great idea, Joey! I know, let's go to the one over at Kaiba Land this Saturday! Mokuba could get us in for free- you and him are still friends, right?" Yuugi said in a rush. Joey shook his head yes and Yuugi... well, the only accurate word would be 'glomped', his best friend.  
"I'm so happy I could kiss you!" He said. Joey froze and looked at Yuugi in bewilderment for a second, blushing. Yuugi let go of him and cleared his throat, realizing that that statement could very well be taken literally right now.  
"Why don't you two kiss? You've done it before already, and it's totally normal to kiss a friend!" Marik said.  
"It is?" Asked Joey, looking at Yuugi again hopefully. He tried to disguise that fact that he really did want another kiss, but ultimately failed. Well, failed to everyone but Yuugi that is.  
The human has tried for millennia to try and decipher exactly why he can't tell when someone else returns his interest, but it's always failed miserably. No matter what he seems to do, say, or think, he can never tell. It seems almost like his own insecurities blind them from seeing the light. This is why it is the duty of fanfiction authors to cause the two to get together eventually, giving mankind the relief it deserves, a happy ending. Sadly, now is not that point in this story.  
"Well, girls do it all the time!" Marik said. Joey's eyes widened as he snuck another hopeful glance at Yuugi.  
"Well, uh... I don't mind if you don't, Yug'." He said, blushing. Yuugi blushed, too, but decided to lean forward and give Joey a quick peck on his lips. Bakura smirked and Marik smiled.  
"So, we should probably train. If we have any chance, we'll want to stay in the tournament as long as possible." Yuugi rationalized. "We'll get Tea and Trystan to participate."  
"What about Serenity?" Joey asked, referring to his sister. Joey looked hopeful, as he didn't like to leave her alone for too long.  
Ever since their parent's divorce, Joey had drifted closer and closer to Serenity, and it seemed sometimes as if they were inseparable now. He felt like it was his job to protect her and make sure she was happy at all times. His only lapse of judgement had been when he'd tried to teach her how to drive and she ran over Noah. Well... we all know how THAT turned out...  
"Sure, she can come along for moral support." Yuugi said comfortingly. Joey smiled, relieved that he wouldn't have to spend he weekend away from his sister. They spent at least a couple of hours together almost every Saturday, and he didn't want to change that. They'd talked, laughed, he'd even taught her how to play Duel Monsters once. She wasn't good enough to enter any tournament yet, but she could hold her own fairly well. She helped him train, anyways.  
"That's cool." He said nonchalantly, hiding his real excitement. He wasn't sure, but he felt more inclined lately not to embarrass himself in front of Yuugi. So, he attempted to keep his cool.  
"So," Yuugi began, changing the subject, "We should start training. Marik and Bakura, do both of you have your decks?"  
"Of course!" Marik said happily. "I never leave home without it!"  
"Same." Said Bakura dryly, looking at his nails. He still wasn't used to this 'friendship' bull crap, and he was convinced that Yuugi and the others were simply tolerating him because he inhabited the body of Ryou, their true friend. A rough translation; he wasn't about to go out of his way for these people. He might not have much, but he had Marik, and that was all he'd ever need. Anyone else would require too much effort.  
"Great!" Yuugi exclaimed, "If you two don't mind or have somewhere else to be, you can stay over here tonight. We should be training pretty late."  
"So, are you going to train without the Pharaoh, or are we going to be required to keep quiet about our reasoning for the tournament?" Bakura asked, adding, "And no, we don't mind." He didn't typically answer to anyone (except Marik, of course) so he almost forgot to.  
"Well, I was planning on training alone until it gets closer to the tournament. He doesn't really need to train, so I really should just train by myself. We don't want to risk him discovering our plan. That would be the opposite of super special awesome." Yuugi rationalized. Bakura got bored around the second sentence, so he'd begun staring at Marik instead. It was much more interesting than listening to Yuugi speak.  
"Okay, so who's going first?" Marik asked excitedly, glancing over to find Bakura's eyes were locked on him. Their eyes met briefly, and Marik looked away, blushing a little bit. Bakura moved close to him and threw an arm around his shoulders, holding his a little closer. They could both sense they weren't going to fail; there was no way they could even fathom failing. Neither of them could stand to even consider the repercussions of such a blunder.  
"Well, how about Marik and Joey face each other for now, and Bakura faces me?" Yuugi suggested, speaking with the thought that it would be best to put the duelists together who accent each other's strengths and weaknesses well. It wasn't training if it was easy.  
"Sounds good, but what of incentives?" Bakura asked.  
"What do you mean by that?" Joey asked, narrowing his eyes at Bakura. He wasn't sure whether to he insulted or not.  
"It means we need a reason to win." Bakura said, flipping his hair and rolling his eyes. He would've crossed his arms, but that would require letting go of Marik.  
"How about this; Joey and Yuugi can only kiss when one of them wins, and we can only kiss whenever one of us wins." Marik suggested, bumping Bakura playfully. Bakura smirked, liking the idea. Marik was certainly enough incentive to win, especially when he batted his eye lashes flirtatiously like that. Bakura wanted to swoop down and kiss him right now.  
"I'm okay with that." Yuugi said with a shrug. Joey put his arm around Yuugi and flashed a peace sign, giving his signature wide-toothed grin.  
"Alright Marik, get ready to lose!" He said happily, and they all got out their decks to duel.  
They all dueled heatedly and to the best of their abilities, playing a total of four games in all. At the end, an equal number of games had been won by both parties, so they decided that they'd all get the reward.  
That was music to Bakura's ears. As a tomb robber, he'd acquired a great deal of patience. Thousands of years waiting for a host had taught him even more. The one thing that always seemed to make him impatient though was Marik. He'd barely been able to concentrate through the duels, thinking about him. (Of course, one didn't need much concentration to beat Joey Wheeler.)  
Bakura fearlessly took Marik into his arms and pressed their lips together firmly, running a hand through Marik's hair.  
Yuugi, on the other hand, brushed his lips against Joey's tentatively at first before leaning in to make the kiss more firm.  
By that time at night, it would've been too late for Marik and Bakura to walk home. They would end up staying the night after all. The four males mutually decided that the best place to stay would be Yuugi's bedroom.  
As they were going up the stairs, Marik pulled on Bakura's arm a little, urging him to stay and talk. Bakura stayed, mostly out of curiosity and hope that Marik wanted to kiss. When Marik was certain that Joey and Yuugi were out of hearing range, he leaned forward and began to whisper in Bakura's ear.  
"Those two like each other." He said, and Bakura slumped. He was hoping that Marik would be asking him for another kiss. In fact, he expected it once Marik leaned forward to whisper in his ear.  
"And?" Bakura said at a normal volume, not getting Marik's reason for the low volume. Marik responded by quickly and loudly shushing him and then pulling away to glare.  
"And we have to get them together!" Marik said as if it were obvious. Bakura blinked.  
"And why would I want to do that?" Bakura asked, keeping his tone flat and uninterested.  
"Because it would be cute!"  
"Marik, I don't care about 'cute'." Bakura said with a snort. Marik frowned and thought for a moment, scanning his mind for a way to persuade Bakura.  
"Because it will make me happy?" He said, more of a question. Bakura sighed and relented. Marik had found his sensitive spot. As much as he didn't care about things sometimes, he knew one thing he'd always care about would be Marik's happiness.  
"Okay, I'll help." He replied, looking down. Marik squealed in happiness and ruffled his hair.  
"Thanks, Fluffy!"  
"You guys coming?" Yuugi called then, peaking around the corner slowly. He'd honestly assumed what Bakura had assumed and was afraid of what he might see. He'd seen enough of Bakura and Marik kissing today.  
"Yeah!" Marik replied. Yuugi could've sworn he heard Bakura mumble something along the lines of 'I'm not a kitty!'


	7. Scheme

Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter is kind of short and everything, but I wanted to stretch what all I had written in the first notebook (Yeah, I filled a miniature notebook XD) to last eight chapters because I had a perfect cutoff point for chapter eight. So yeah. I've officially decided that no matter how long it takes, I'm going to finish this story. It doesn't have many followers, but it would be rude to the people who have followed along with me this whole time if I were to just suddenly cut off. Besides, I was going to finish writing it out no matter what :-)

I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT, YUGIOH IS KAZUKI TAKAHASHI'S.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Yuugi led them upstairs and into his room. Joey sat up a little straighter as they entered, seeing that Yuugi had gotten Marik and Bakura to come along.  
Yuugi, being the ever gracious host that he most certainly was, promptly ran out of the room to retrieve sodas for everyone. (Diet for Marik, of course. He didn't want to ruin his figure.)  
Joey fidgeted uncomfortably as Marik and Bakura shared a meaningful glance.  
"So, Joey, you and Yuugi are pretty close now, right?" Marik prompted eagerly. Joey was a little taken aback by the fact that they had even spoken to him- he didn't really want to talk to either of them, (He didn't even like Ryou, so himself and Bakura hardly ever saw each other) and assumed that they'd felt the same. I mean, if you didn't like someone (let alone the evil spirit living within their body) it was safe most of the time to assume they didn't like you.  
"I guess we're close, yeah." He responded warily.  
"So..." Marik began. Subtlety was never really his strong suit. "Do you like him?"  
"Of course I like him, he's my best friend." Joey said, rolling his eyes. If anybody knows where to buy a clue, mention it to me sometime and we'll go get Joey one together.  
"No, I mean... do you like him?" Marik asked, for once being serious. Yaoi is serious business for Marik. Joey realized what he was implying and blushed madly, looking down at the ground with his ears burning red.  
He'd considered it after Tea said so the other day, he wasn't going to lie. Surprisingly, he'd actually found that he... sorta liked the idea. He wasn't sure how though. Was he..._gay_? Or was it just a faze he was going through?  
Looking back, he never had a really strong interest in girls. He was much too busy attempting to keep his drunken father under control and keep himself off the streets to have much of an interest in _anyone_, really. Even when he did think about girls, it was always as just friends.  
Yuugi, though; being around Yuugi gave him butterflies. He wasn't sure, but... he thought he just might_ like_ him. He wasn't going to tell Marik and Bakura that, though.  
"Ummm... I'm not really sure." He lied, not about to trust them. Marik's eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together like an excited child.  
"Well, you two should get together!" Marik said, elbowing Bakura for help. Bakura scowled and glared at him a moment before Marik cleared his throat loudly.  
"Yes." Bakura said flatly, glancing over at Marik and looking at him as if to say,'Are you happy yet?!'  
"Well, uh, I'm not even sure if he thinks of me in any way other than a friendship way. Plus, I'm not sure if I'm gay or not, so... there could be complications there." He added, blushing.  
"But do you think it's a possibility?" Marik pushed stubbornly, not about to have his dreams crushed. He was going to make this work. It was his duty as a hardcore yaoi fanboy.  
"Well, um...I guess." Joey said. "If he feels the same way. Later, yeah."  
Just then, Yuugi returned bearing a tray full of fruit snacks and soda. Being a grown up doesn't mean you stop eating fruit snacks, it means buying your own. Marik turned to smile at Yuugi happily. He just knew that he and Joey would end up together, and it would be friggin' cute! Even as friends, they were obviously inseparable.  
They ate and talked until late, (well, everyone but Bakura talked; he was still uncomfortable around everyone and Marik did enough talking for the both of them anyways) and when it was time to go to sleep, they all broke out the sleeping bags.  
Before bed, Marik leaned over to kiss Bakura lightly, barely grazing his lips with his own.  
Joey looked at Yuugi for a moment before blushing and walking over to do the same to him, cheeks blazing red the entire , the two weren't used to the whole ' kissing each other' thing.  
Marik waited until Yuugi and Joey were asleep to attempt to go to sleep himself. He'd been having some trouble getting to sleep lately. When he did finally fall asleep, though, he regretted it...  
_ Marik and Bakura were in Egypt. That much was obvious. The expansive desert stretched out around them on all sides, offering no break in the reluctant waves of sand. The miserable heat wore down on his skin, and he could only imagine how the pale Bakura was doing._  
_ The second thing he noticed was the thirst. It hit him like an unexpected tidal wave, crashing over him on all sides and seeming to consume his body wholly. Why were they in the desert, what could be worth...?_  
_ Oh. Fabricated memories started to come back to him, seemingly from earlier in the dream. Shadi had tried to separate them. He'd shouted, screamed, wouldn't stop trying to convince them that there was no way they could be together. That it would be the downfall of all of humanity._  
_ He couldn't leave Bakura. He'd rather spend all of eternity in this god forsaken desert, rather spend the rest of his days in the shadow realm. He'd rather walk a mile across hot coals or swim in crocadile infested waters. He'd rather die and die whispering 'I love you, Bakura' with his last breath. Nobody would tear them apart, nobody..._  
_ He'd been walking for so long, and he was so, so thirsty..._  
_ Suddenly, Bakura collapsed in the sand next to him, looking like death itself. Like beautiful, sunburnt, death._  
_ His skin was bright red and covered in blister after blister, his lips cracked and bleeding. Marik fell onto his knees beside him, shaking his shoulder gently. Bakura didn't stir._  
_ "Come on Bakura, we'll get to a town eventually." Marik reasoned, reaching up to wipe the sweat off of his brow. Listening to his own voice, it sounded like someone had sand papered it. It was dry and crackly, and showed clearly his desperate need for water. Bakura gave no response or indication that he'd heard, lying on the hot ground motionlessly._  
_ Now Marik was starting to become worried. Bakura always responded to him in some way, whether it be verbally or by gesture. Even before they were together, working towards their ultimate goal of the Pharaoh's destruction, he'd responded to him._  
_ That was when he noticed._  
_ Bakura wasn't breathing._  
_ Marik leaned down in a blind frenzy and frantically administered CPR, praying for him to wake up._  
_ Eventually, he gave up the CPR and just kissed him, as if he were sleeping beauty and any moment now he'd wake up._  
_ He pulled back, a tear trailing down his cheek as he gazed upon the dead body of his lover._  
_ He let the tears fall silently, wishing that it were him and not Bakura laying dead underneath the hot sun. He couldn't take seeing him like this, couldn't take that Shadi had won. Now they were separated... forever._  
_ "I LOVED YOU!" He suddenly yelled, as if that would somehow help this whole mess. He began to openly weep and clutched his lover's shirt, burying his face in his chest. He wailed in agony as the reality hit him hard. Bakura, his love, friend, everything. The only one he'd ever had feelings for._  
_ He was gone._  
_ And he wasn't coming back._  
Marik woke with a gasp, finding that his face was covered in tears of fear and agony.  
He immediately scanned the darkened room for some sign of his lover, and found him sleeping soundly with his face buried in his pillow. Without thinking, Marik immediately crawled over and pulled him into his arms, turning him around to press their lips together heatedly. He was happier than he'd ever been, seeing Bakura alive.  
Scratch that, kissing Bakura in general is always as happy as it gets.  
Bakura groggily began to kiss him back, confused but sensing Marik's stress and discomfort.  
Marik pulled away slowly and Bakura could tell that there were tears in his lavender eyes. It broke Bakura's heart to see his love in such a state.  
"What's wrong?" Bakura asked gently, reaching up to wipe a stray tear off of Marik's face. Marik took a deep, comforting breath to steady himself before beginning his tale.  
"I had a dream that we failed, and we were walking through the desert, and you-you-you..." Marik started, choking up and being forced to stop his story for a moment to control himself. He started to try again and grabbed Bakura's shirt and pulling him closer. Bakura helped Marik by wrapping his arms around him in a weak attempt at comfort. Bakura began to slowly stroke Marik's hair, and Marik began to slowly calm again.  
"I just couldn't stand to lose you." Marik said brokenly.  
"You won't have to." Bakura said firmly, gazing into his eyes.  
"I love you." Marik said. Bakura sat up more, supporting his own weight and allowed Marik to snuggle up to him.  
"I love you, too." Bakura purred, stroking his hair a little rougher and leaning down for a soft kiss, which Marik eagerly returned.  
After a little while longer of snuggling each other, Marik felt a question pop into his head.  
"Bakura?"  
"Hmmm?"  
"What would happen to you if your vessel- Ryou, were harmed? Would you... die?" He asked, biting his lip. Bakura stiffened a moment before he started to laugh.  
He kissed Marik's forehead in reassurance before responding with, "I can't die Marik, I'm immortal. You'd have to find me a new host, but I could never leave. You're stuck with me forever." He teased. Marik's body went slack with relief.  
"Good. But... what will you do when I die?" He asked, turning back to look at Bakura, who had now pressed his chest along Marik's back. Bakura stiffened and his eyes narrowed protectively.  
"We're not going to think about that until the time comes closer. I'm certainly going to keep you alive as long as possible." He replied flatly.  
The truth was that he had thought about it, and the thought scared him. He didn't want to live in a world without Marik, and it wasn't exactly like he could commit suicide. He'd be forced to wander the earth until the ends of time, grieving the loss of his love.  
He'd dealt with pain. He'd had to watch as his entire family was slaughtered, just to make those bloody millennium items. He'd grown up all one, searched aimlessly for thousands of years for the 'New Pharaoh', only to find that his revenge wasn't what he thought it would be.  
Marik was his new family; the only person he could stand to love since the death of everyone he'd held dear. He didn't want to think of dying because he didn't want to have to lose his family all over again.  
Marik snuggled further into him, bringing him back to the present.  
He kept his arms wrapped around the Egyptian, and began to pepper kisses all over the top of his head. Marik turned to give Bakura more access to his face and Bakura continued to kiss him everywhere but the lips.  
This continued for what felt like hours, Bakura kissing close to his lips, but never actually on them. Marik wanted an actual kiss so badly that it hurt.  
Eventually, the other was whimpering softly and trying to turn his head last minute (all of which Bakura somehow managed to dodge, landing a kiss close to his lips, but never on them). Marik finally had enough and turned around, grabbing Bakura's face and cramming their lips together heatedly. He shivered at the passion of the kiss.  
Bakura chuckled a little, returning the kiss just as fervently as it was received.  
After the kiss, they went back to snuggling in silence, Marik happy that he wouldn't have to leave Bakura's arms.


	8. Yami's opposite

Long butt chapter. A whole lot of writing. Enjoy.

I DONT OWN YUGIOH

By the way, the overall plan for this story has been extended. It's going to be four or five chapters longer than originally expected. Maybe six or seven. So be happy, especially with the low fanbase that this has. And because it's wishshipping and prideshipping. By the way, would anybody be too heartbroken if I turned this into a puzzleshipping? And puppyshipping. If you would, speak now or forever hold your peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 8~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Around two hours later, Joey and Yuugi woke up.  
Marik reluctantly wiggled his way out of Bakura's arms, stretching and yawning.  
Joey stood immediately, and Yuugi wondered how he could possibly have that much energy that early in the morning. He romped down the stairs and started rummaging through the kitchen for his breakfast.  
Yuugi stood and followed, giving a last glance and a sheepish grin to Bakura and Marik.  
"Sorry guys, Joey tends to think with his stomach." He shouted over his shoulder. Bakura and Marik both followed him down to the small kitchen, now crowded with the four boys.  
Marik immediately took over, seeing his chance to cook. None of the other boys complained, leaving the room to let Marik do his thing.  
After a short breakfast, (Marik made all of them french toast- Egyptian style.) Marik and Bakura left to go home.  
"You guys come again tomorrow night, we'll do some more quick training, and then we'll be ready for the tournament in the morning!" Yuugi shouted to Bakura, waving from the door.  
"Will do." Bakura shouted back, still holding Marik's hand. He'd not let it go for even a moment after Marik finished breakfast.  
They walked home in mostly comfortable silence, admiring the view of little Domino City. It really was beautiful this time of year, not to mention severely under appreciated.  
When they got to their apartment building, they said goodbye with a sweet kiss, sadly parting to go to their respective rooms.  
Yes, they lived in the same building and didn't continue talking after everything was over. It's referred to as plot convenience.  
Bakura walked into his cold and lonely apartment, a sad feeling creeping up already.  
This feeling was odd for Bakura. He didn't typically get lonely. Spending so many years of his existence trapped and inwarmed in darkness between hosts could give a person the ability to entertain themselves. Ever since he was a child and lost his family, loneliness had begun to fade away, replaced with more dominant emotions.  
Well, psychotic is an emotion, right? No? Okay, so maybe angst or something.  
The last time he'd felt loneliness was when he'd stopped talking to Marik. It was an odd and unusual feeling to Bakura, so back then he hadn't even been able to identify it.  
Now, he knew what it was. And he knew that it was because he loved him.  
Before, he'd assumed that his little thing for Marik was just a petty crush. Now,m he knew for certain that that assumption was miles away from the truth.  
He kicked off his shoes, laying down to sleep. He was tired from comforting Marik last night, and almost immediately passed out.  
When he awoke, he was absolutely ravenous. Looking to the clock, he could see that he'd slept past lunch.  
'You should take better care of my body.' Ryou whispered from the ring.  
"Well I'm bloody sorry that I'm not the best at it." Bakura growled in frustration.  
'You don't need to snip at me. And if you could give me control of my body every once in awhile, you know!" He declared exasperatedly.  
Bakura put his face in his hands and sighed. Ryou didn't typically talk to him, but when he did, it was bloody annoying.  
"It may be your body, but I'm in control of it." Bakura mumbled. He wasn't going to lie, he felt bad sometimes for trying to take the boy's body. I mean, he really did have a point. It was his life, and thanks to Bakura, he didn't really get to live much of it himself.  
'Please? I want to call my grandmother. Just for a few minutes?' Ryou pleaded. Bakura sighed and relinquished control, giving into his request.  
Ryou gasped, feeling control of his body return to him. He wiggled his fingers, and immediately reached for the phone.  
'You have ten minutes.' Bakura warned from the ring. Ryou nodded his head in understanding, grabbing the phone from off of the charger.  
It rang only once before going to voice mail, so he figured that it was turned off.  
"Hey Grandma, this is Ryou, sorry I haven't been calling as often as I should. I've been... busy. The point is, I love and miss you, and I'm doing fine. Really, I do miss you." He said, sighing and pressing the 'end' button. His grandmother would be satisfied with that.  
She'd been worried about him a lot lately, what with Bakura not giving him the time to call in. He was just happy that right now he was getting some time controlling his own body for once.  
It was awkward, being controlled by Bakura. They could hear most of each other's thoughts if they wanted to, and physically, he could feel everything that Bakura felt.  
That didn't exclude his little kissing sessions with Marik.  
Not only that, but there was something else. When Bakura kissed Marik or had a lot of physical contact, he felt like there was something else there, something in Marik that wrapped around him and mingled with his own soul. Almost like a part of Marik was kissing him, well... his soul. He actually had grown to like it quite a lot. He, he thought that he may...like that part of Marik, too.  
He sent a silent thanks to Ra that Bakura didn't hear that thought. He'd be skewered! But.. it wasn't Marik, at the same time. It was much more controlling, yet... oddly gentle. It was that side of Marik that he was attracted to. It's just... it really didn't fit Marik's personality.  
He felt his stomach growl and strolled over to the fridge, pulling out some ham and cheese. He decided not to even bother with the bread, more favoring actually getting food inside of his body. Bakura wasn't going to get the hang of taking care of his body without a little help, and Ryou figured that this was sort of teaching him that it didn't really matter how long it took as long as he ate.  
He took out a shiny glass from the cabinet, washing it out (It had actually accumulated dust since the last time it had been used) before grabbing the gallon of 2% milk from the fridge and pouring it into the glass. A quick scan of Bakura's thoughts showed Ryou that he was thinking of taking over soon, so he knew he had to rush.  
Ryou ate the lunch meat and downed the milk quickly, almost choking in the process but managing to finish before he felt control of his body start to slip. Suddenly, he was back to controlling nothing, seeing only through someone else's eyes.  
Bakura felt good being able to control 'himself' again.  
The next day, Bakura went through and made alterations to his deck, adding a couple of other cards and preparing to duel. He grabbed his duel disk off the counter and packed some of his clothes, knowing that he wouldn't have enough time in the morning to come back home and change.  
It was 4:30, and Himself and Marik had planned to leave at five.  
Yuugi had everything planned out. He had Trystan, Serenity, Joey and Tea coming, and he'd invited Marik and Bakura, too. (He was fairly sure that they'd show up; I mean, they were adamant about staying together) and he had the rosters all made up.  
It would be him and Marik fighting this time, and Joey and Bakura. Joey had mentioned that he'd taught Serenity duel monsters, so she could play Trystan even if she wouldn't participate in the tournament. (Tea was arriving late, so Trystan couldn't train with her until later.)  
Everyone arrived just on time. Everyone, that is, except Joey and Serenity.  
Joey had to explain everything to his sister before she saw his, er...greeting with Yuugi.  
He turned towards his redheaded sister, seeing her admiring the city. Ever since she lost her eyesight, she'd always been much more appreciative of it.  
"Sis, you know how if you like someone, you kiss them?"  
"Joey, I'm a year younger than you, not an infant. I'm familiar with why people kiss."  
"Well, I was just making sure." He said, pausing slightly. "Well, sometimes when people kiss each other, it's just a friendship thing." He said.  
"Joey, I know this, I'm not stupid. Again, only a year younger than you." She said flatly.  
"Okay, just making sure that you knew."  
"Okay, big brother." She said, bumping him with a playful smile. She was sort of confused as to why he wanted to make sure that she knew, but she figured that it was best not to ask. With her brother, he'd tell her eventually if it was something important.  
They arrived fifteen minutes late, and Yuugi was waiting right next to the door when the doorbell rang.  
He'd been pacing since about five minutes past the designated time, succeeding in annoying the heck out of everyone.  
"Yuugi, he'll be here in a minute, you don't have to pace so much." Trystan said flatly.  
"I know. I just like pacing." Yuugi said, lying through his teeth. Which, of course, everybody saw right through. Nobody likes exercise.  
"Just calm down already." Marik groaned.  
The doorbell rang and Yuugi practically sprinted to the door, unlocking it hurriedly and answering with a warm smile.  
Joey strolled in with Serenity lagging behind, Trystan sitting up straighter when he saw that she'd come, too. Their eyes met briefly before they both turned away, blushing madly.  
Yuugi, having been worried about Joey's well being, gave up on being formal in front of everyone.  
He leaned forward on his tippy toes and put his arms around Joey's neck, pushing their lips together firmly.  
Joey froze momentarily, shocked by Yuugi's forwardness, but after he got used to it, and melted into their kiss.  
Both Serenity and Trystan were staring at the two of them with their mouths open in shock.  
They broke apart and looked at each other for a moment before Bakura cleared his throat loudly, (earning an elbow to the chest from Marik) and they moved apart awkwardly, blushing.  
"I was...um... worried about you." Yuugi said sheepishly.  
"I was fine." Joey replied, scratching his head awkwardly.  
"What was that?" Trystan asked, still staring at them.  
"A kiss." Joey informed him.  
"I'm just... you two..."  
"It's a friendship thing." Yuugi said. "Long story short, we had to once, and we don't really care anymore."  
"Okay." Trystan said. He wanted to remark that it didn't look very much like a 'friendship thing' but he decided to just let it be. I mean, they obviously knew that they liked each other, so why tamper with it? He decided to just let them sort it out themselves and plan to support them when they confessed. Hey, he wasn't completely stupid. Most of the time.  
"So let's get this thing on the road!" Yuugi exclaimed, clapping his hands together.  
They all lined up for the duels, sitting across from each other. Due to lack of space, they weren't going to play with super advanced holograms.  
"So I draw now, right?" Serenity asked. Trystan shook his head yes, and she gave him the 'thumbs up' sign, drawing a card. She batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously, reaching forward to brush their hands together. Trystan took notice and blushed deeper than before.  
She was just so pretty. She had gorgeous flowing hair, and those beautiful eyes...  
"It's your turn, Trystan." She said, derailing his train of thought. He made his move, moving their hands away from each other reluctantly.  
She made her own move, glancing across the table to find him glancing at her.  
Needless to say, not much attention was being paid to Duel Monsters.  
As soon as the first round was over, Tea ran the doorbell and was invited inside.  
They all switched partners, (Serenity watching this time instead of trying to fumble through the game) and began a whole new round.  
It continued like that for a total of two hours of children's card games.  
When they were done, they all went upstairs to Yuugi's room to watch a movie.  
Yuugi popped in one of his personal favorites, Les Miserables.  
The one where every single word is sung.  
Marik and Bakura snuggled up together, Bakura wrapping his arms around Marik to pull him closer.  
Ryou sighed as he felt a part of Marik reach out and mingle with him. It was just so wonderful to have Marik close like this.  
They watched in almost silence, Marik having never seen it before. When Eponine died, he had to fight to keep from crying. Bakura smiled, but didn't say anything, sparing Marik his pride. Instead, he leaned over to give Marik a light kiss.  
Ryou sighed as he felt Marik's soul lean in and 'kiss' him, but rougher than Marik was kissing Bakura. Ryou quite enjoyed the feeling of being dominated.  
Soon, the movie was over and they all went to their respective rooms, (Tea and serenity were sleeping seprately from the boys) to get a good night's sleep.  
In the morning, it was a frenzy to get ready. Everybody was scrambling to get into the bathroom and change clothes, and trying to get their decks together.  
They all grabbed breakfast bars, not having time to cook anything for breakfast. It made Marik a little sad, but he knew that they had to be on time. They all filed briskly out the door, following one after another.  
Conversation on the way was light, despite the seriousness of the situation.  
When they arrived, Mokuba was waiting by the doors to usher them in happily, fist-bumping Joey.  
They entered the Dueling arena, Joey and Mokuba chattering away the whole time, attempting to catch up like a pair of old friends who hadn't seen each other since college. Yuugi was a little surprised to find he was jealous of all the attention Joey was giving him, but he reminded himself that Joey wouldn't kiss someone else.  
"So, there are two kinds of tournaments today. Doubles and Singles. I already made sure everyone was in the singles, but if anyone wants to enter with a partner, you'll have to go and do that yourself." He said, turning around to face everyone with a smile. "I'd suggest all of you pick out a person to stay with who'll help you remember your matches so you're not late."  
Before he'd even finished his sentence, Tea shot forward and grabbed his hand. Due to her motherly instincts, she found Mokuba absolutely the most appealing partner. She had to admit that he was adorable. Plus, all the other partners were already decided before anything had been said.  
Yuugi awkwardly grabbed Joey's hand, leading him away from the rest of the group.  
Yuugi knew that he liked Joey; he just didn't know how he felt about that.  
He was fine with being a little gay, maybe even a_ lot_ gay. That wasn't his problem. His problem was that he liked Joey in specific.  
Joey was his best friend. Plus, there was almost no way he could like him back. That made Yuugi sad, but there wasn't anything that he could really do about it.  
"Let's go sign up for the doubles tournament." Yuugi said, dragging Joey to the sign up tables. "I bet we'd do super special awesome!"  
"Sounds cool, Yuugi." Joey said, blushing. He didn't know if Yuugi had done it on purpose or not, but they were currently holding hands.  
Yuugi approached the table and signed them up, not letting go of his hand.  
The girl at the sign up desk looked at their hands and smiled acceptingly. When Yuugi went to hand her the sheet, she decided to say something.  
"You two make such a cute couple!" She said, smiling at them.  
Joey and Yuugi both froze, glancing at each other.  
"Ummm... you two alright there?" She asked, interrupting their thoughts. They both turned to look at her and blinked, wondering why she'd chosen to say anything, and more importantly, why the other didn't deny it immediately as soon as it was uttered.  
"Can I get a little kiss?" She cooed, looking between the two.  
"Actually, we need to go talk for a minute." Yuugi shouted, now being pulled by Joey into one of the side hallways.  
"Yuugi, do you...like me?" Joey asked, closing his eyes at the possible answers.  
Yuugi looked around helplessly, not sure what exactly to do. Should he tell Joey, or would it damage the friendship that they already had? He certainly didn't want that to happen. But he knew that he couldn't keep lying to his friend.  
"Yeah. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, Joey. Please don't let this effect our fr-" He was cut off by Joey's lips pressed roughly to his. This was different from their first kiss. They both knew that they liked each other, which really let Yuugi relax and enjoy it.  
They both melted into the kiss, Yuugi stepping closer to Joey. It felt so good to be near him...  
They broke apart and looked lovingly into each other's eyes.  
"Wow. Well that was super special awesome." Yuugi remarked teasingly. Joey smiled and sighed.  
Kaiba briskly walked over from across the room, having spotted the two from a distance. He wanted to know who would be participating in his competition, so he'd been scanning the crowds.  
The Pharaoh had noticed and tapped Yuugi's shoulder to let him know that he wanted to take over. Yuugi felt the Pharaoh take over, and Yami turned to glare at Kaiba.  
"Hello, Pharaoh. Will you be participating in today's events?" Kaiba sneered.  
"I'll be kicking your butt in today's events, if that's what you mean."  
"I'll be looking forward to it." Kaiba sneered, having a glare-off with the Pharaoh. Joey thought he may have imagined it, but he could've sworn he saw a spark of passion in Kaiba's eyes. "But I'll be beating you." He said, turning and leaving just as fast as he came. Yami turned back to Joey.  
"I hate that guy. I swear, we're complete opposites." He said, pouting.  
Something clicked in Joey's mind, and he smirked when Yuugi took back over.  
Looks like they knew who Yami's opposite was.


	9. Filler Chapter is Filler

Hey guys! I've sort of officially decided that this might eventually be a puzzleshipping, so please bear with the fact that it's going to be a long, _long_ time until that happens. Thank you, all of my two readers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 9~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Yuugi and Joey walked back to Bakura and Marik excitedly, buzzing from the energy that came with having good news.  
This, of course, was NOT going to be easy. Yami and Kaiba basically hated each other, and neither of them had any clue how to get the two males together. But, they knew who they needed Yami with. That was the most important thing, having the hope that came with knowing. No matter what, hope was always better than nothing.  
As they were approaching, they quickly realized that everyone had their eyes trained on the dueling arena. They really couldn't bother trying to say anything when everybody was watching children's card games being played, because they were paying more attention then they did to the television on discovery during Shark Week.  
Glancing up at the arena, Yuugi could see that Trystan was dueling.  
Very badly.  
Trystan played a monster in attack position by accident, and his opponent immediately obliterated it. Upon closer look, Yuugi discovered that his opponent was Weevle Underwood, a regional champion. No matter how much Trystan had improved over the years, he would never be up to a level that professional. The duel was completely unfair.  
Serenity looked worriedly up at the duel. Tons of people were watching, and Trystan was going to lose miserably. Finally, when Trystan had but 3,000 life points left, she had an idea. It was far fetched, but motivation always made people better, right?  
"Trystan!" She shouted from the sidelines. This was a big risk, since she wasn't even sure if he liked her like that. She would have to go out on a limb though, for the sake of Trystan's duelist's pride. "If you win this duel, I'll kiss you!"  
Joey turned to his sister, panic rising up inside him. She was much too young to have her first kiss! His anger flared, even if he didn't really have anything to truly be angry about. Even Joey knew in some corner of his mind that he was being irrational, but he was just worried for her. He didn't want her to grow up too fast and end up regretting it!  
Joey sighed, trying to calm himself. She was, in fact, a year younger than him. He couldn't very well criticize her for having her first kiss, especially now that he had a boyfriend. Well, at least, Joey assumed that they were boyfriends. At the very least, they were talking.  
Whatever the hell 'talking' is supposed to mean.  
Yuugi saw Joey's anger and knew that he needed help calming down. So, tentatively, he reached over to interlock their fingers and pulled Joey's hand close to him, giving it a light squeeze.  
Tea saw the affection and her demeanor changed drastically, her eyes narrowing immediately. Straight boys, or even boys who were together but not too serious, would never hold hands in public. She knew that something was up, and she fully intended to get to the bottom of it. It was her job as a girl to fangirl.  
Joey relaxed, sighing and looking at Yugi in thanks. He knew that he needed to let go and allow Serenity to grow up some, without him breathing down her back, but it was a difficult task to accomplish. He knew, though, that he couldn't just keep stopping her from growing up. She needed to be able to let go and be a teenager. Plus, he was glad that, if it happened today, it would be with Trystan. He knew and trusted Trystan, and that was much better than her kissing some stranger.  
At that point, Trystan drew the perfect card and set it on the field.  
Weevle's life points began to slowly drain down to nothing, and Trystan stared at the scoreboard, not quite believing what he saw there.  
"I won!" He finally yelled, letting it sink in. He pumped his fists in the air in celebration and looked at Serenity with his most dashing smile. Now, he not only won a children's card game, but he got to kiss the girl of his dreams! Plus, judging by the fact that she had offered this in the first place, chances were that she liked him back!  
He walked over to where she stood, and she completely glomped him, giggling in happiness. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up off the ground, spinning her around. Once he stopped, he looked down at her awkwardly, blushing a bit. He didn't really know how to go about it.  
"Sooo... Do you want to kiss now?" He asked. It was the best he could come up with in a situation as spontaneous as this one.  
"Definitely." Serenity said, smiling.  
Seeing that Trystan probably wouldn't take the initiative, Serenity leaned forward and pressed their lips together lightly, and Trystan began to return the light kiss. They kept their lips pressed together for a moment, enjoying what would presumably be the first of many kisses between the two.  
They pulled away quickly, Serenity looking away and blushing adorably.  
"Awww, you guys are super special cute." Yuugi said, his eyes flickering back and forth between them and a smile gracing his face. They pulled away, both of them looking reluctant about it, but too afraid to really try and stay much longer.  
"I could say the same about you and Joey." Tea said, not being able to contain her fangirl any longer than she already had.  
Yuugi turned to look at her in surprise. How did she know these things?  
"Uhhh... I guess?"  
"So you admit it then? You two finally got together?" Tea asked excitedly, bringing her arms together to form a small stand for her chin in the typical anime fangirl and Yuugi shared a look, not quite sure if they wanted to tell everyone when they weren't even 100% sure themselves what they were. Joey definitely did not need rumors flying around either, because if it got back to his father...  
"We technically still have to talk about it..." Yuugi said, looking to Joey to make sure that the response checked out with him. Joey didn't look too mortified, he just avoided the prying gazes of his friends and blushed, trying to ignore everyone staring at him.  
Tea completely lost her cool and shrieked, fangirling majorly over this new bit of information. Joey and Yuugi both looked at her like she was crazy as she displayed her clear approval for their not-yet-relationship. Well, it was better then most ways she could've reacted.  
"I SO called it! You guys are really adorable together!" She said happily clapping her hands together.  
"I know right? They're so cute." Marik chimed in, acting just as excited as Tea. Minus the fangirling. Bakura rolled his eyes stubbornly, refusing to be brought into the love fest that was currently taking place before him. Instead, he pulled Marik close and leaned down so that his lips were pressed against Marik's ear.  
"I think that we make a cute couple." Bakura purred sweetly, reaching up with the hand that was not currently around Marik's waist to run a hand affectionately through his hair. Marik pulled away slightly so that he could look at Bakura, and he smiled widely.  
"Me, too." He agreed, leaning forward and kissing him lightly. Marik smiled into the kiss, happy to have Bakura.  
Seeing Marik and Bakura's exchanged affection, Joey was reminded of their new little tidbit of information.  
"Hey guys, guess what?" He asked excitedly.  
"What?" Tea asked, turning towards him eagerly. She hoped that he and Yuugi had somehow decided in the last ten seconds that they were too gay for each other to deny it any more, and that they would admit it to her.  
"We found out who Yami's opposite is!"  
Bakura let go of Marik and took a step towards Joey automatically, his eyes clearly demanding an answer.  
"It's Kaiba." Joey said immediately, taking the hint that Bakura wanted answers. As stupid as Joey was sometimes, he didn't have a death wish. Mokuba, who had no idea what was going on in the first place, was suddenly more interested in the conversation.  
"Yeah my brother is Yami's opposite, what does that have to do to anything?"  
Joey and Yuugi exchanged a glance. Should they tell him...? He could be useful in getting Kaiba to participate, something that they were all sure would be difficult to do without some kind of advantage. Mokuba could be just that advantage.  
Ten minutes later, they had a ready-to-go Mokuba who was completely eager to participate in the scheme. He'd wanted his brother to relax and get a girlfriend, (or in this case, a boyfriend) for some time now. It seemed like all he ever focused on was work, and Mokuba wanted to help him be happier.  
"Yeah he hates Yami, but Seto hates everyone. The problem will be getting them alone somehow so that Seto will realize hate isn't all he could have with Yami." Mokuba said. "He respects Yami, and that's better than he does for anyone else."  
"I have an idea on that one." Tea said excitedly. "Yami's scared of the dark, right?"  
"I don't see what that has to do with anything here, Tea." Yuugi said warily.  
"Well, listen to my plan then!" She said, sounding exasperated.  
The plan was simple. And well thought out. And also a cliffhanger, because I don't feel like telling you yet.  
Yuugi and Joey won their partners duel, and gave each other a high five. Mainly because they didn't want to offend anyone by kissing in public.  
Joey knew that they needed to talk, so he pulled Yuugi aside to the hall. Coincidentally, it was the same hall that they'd kissed in earlier.  
"What, do you want to kiss again?" Yuugi asked hopefully, stepping a little closer to Joey.  
"No, not really. There's some stuff we need to get worked out." Joey said.  
Yuugi gulped. What if Joey didn't want to kiss anymore? What if he was wrong, and the kiss didn't mean that his feelings were returned?  
"There's something that I need to ask you." Joey said, and then he paused. This was going to be harder than he expected, judging by the nerves that were eating away at him stomach. "Yuugi, I didn't think it was possible for the longest time, but... I think I like you. As more than a friend. You've always been there for me, even when you didn't have to be. I wanted to know if you'd... if you'd maybe be interested in being my boyfriend?" He asked, closing his eyes and crossing his fingers behind his back.  
Yuugi sat for a moment, completely baffled. He'd thought that Joey was going to tell him that he didn't like him any more, and then he asked him to be his boyfriend. Yuugi felt joy swell up inside of him.  
"Yes!" He shrieked happily, smiling from ear to ear. Joey opened up his closed eyes and smiled, stepping forward to wrap Yuugi in a celebratory hug.  
They pulled away, smiling at each other and relishing the moment. Joey leaned forward for a small peck, almost a form of sealing the deal. Yuugi immediately stepped closer, putting his arms around Joey's neck and sighing as their lips left each others companies. He smiled, loving the fact that their relationship was now official.


	10. In which Mokuba is scarred for life

Okay guys! This chapter is dedicated to Rainshadow999 for being the first person to actually review this story on ! This is a day early because I will be gone tomorrow. Thank you all for your reading. Please enjoy this chapter. And just in case you're curious, the first puzzleshippy-puzzleshippy moment is still a LOOOONG ways away, so if you're a wishshipper there will be plenty more of that coming your way, too. Even though it won't be a wishshipping at the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 10~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two days passed before they were able to put their grand scheme into motion.  
The local Halloween fair was in town, even though it was technically still a little while until Halloween. It was a traveling fair though, so it rarely ever ended up someplace on the actual night of Halloween. They had to continue making money throughout the year, so they'd often end up places at random times. Once, Yuugi recalled, it had been in town in April. Despite that, though, they had a wide variety of customers and avid fans of their grand displays.  
One of their main attractions? A maze that ran only shrouded in the secretive cover of the night, over three miles long and filled with unseen horrors at every turn. A popular attraction for young couples seeking a bit of a thrill.  
Yuugi was standing all alone, shivering as the chill of the night assaulted his bare arms and bit through the leather of his jacket. He'd made sure to position himself smack dab in the middle of the maze, and now all he was waiting for was Mokuba to come by with Kaiba. Then, Mokuba would essentially ditch them and run to where Joey was waiting by the way out. Yuugi would trigger his change to Yami, (which was easy enough, because Yami always loved to take over,) and they'd let things happen naturally. The thing about the Pharaoh's phobia was that whenever it would act up, he would cling to whoever was closest to him and not let go.  
They knew that they were leaving a lot of this up to fate and chance, but they would have to risk it.  
Suddenly, Mokuba came around the corner running before quickly disappearing. Yuugi began to regress into his own soul room, feeling relief crash through him like a tidal wave as he felt Yami take over control of his body.  
Kaiba darted around the corner, trying desperately to keep up with his hyperactive younger brother. He spotted Yami and slowed to a stop, panting a little. He needed to find Mokuba, but he was curious as to why Yami was here. With Kaiba, curiosity always won out.  
Yami felt fear pulsing through his very being and he spun around, trying to comprehend his surroundings. He tried to relinquish control of their joint body to Yuugi repeatedly, but Yuugi wasn't having it. He really hated to see Yami that way, but he couldn't do anything to help. He had to let this happen, no matter how bad it hurt him personally.  
The Pharaoh began to shake violently, fear radiating through him in waves that seemed to pulse with his heartbeat, adrenaline searing through his veins like wildfire. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and he turned immediately. The voice was familiar as it spoke though, which was calming in and of itself...  
"Mokuba ran off. Why are you here?" Kaiba asked dryly. He noticed that the Pharaoh was shaking, but he incorrectly concluded that it was from the chill of the night.  
Yami stepped towards Kaiba, not being able to help himself. It was just so dark, and Kaiba seemed much less intimidating than the unknown shadows that seemed to slink all around the cool ground.  
"Yuugi randomly dumped me here." He mumbled. Kaiba shook his head like he understood, and he prepared to leave and find Mokuba. "Wait!" The Pharaoh called, reaching out to grab Kaiba's coat. "We're already here, why don't we just work this out together?" He offered, desperately hoping that he wouldn't have to do this on his own.  
Kaiba paused. The Pharaoh never asked him for anything, so he knew that something was probably up. Since he wasn't completely heartless, (No matter how much he'd like to convince people otherwise), he wasn't about to abandon him to wander.  
"Sure." Kaiba mumbled, beginning to briskly walk forward, dragging Yami along behind him.  
Yami kept very close behind him, jumping at every little sound and praying that nothing bad would happen. He couldn't stop shaking, though it got a little better when he could feel comforting vibes coming through the mind link. At least Yuugi was there for him, even if this was kind of his fault in the first place.  
Suddenly, a man cloaked in black fabric jumped out at them, and Yami grabbed Kaiba, pulling himself against him and burying his face in his large coat. Kaiba turned a bit in surprise, but he automatically put his arm around him, holding his other hand out threateningly towards the man. It looked more fabulous than threatening, but what's the difference really?  
The man watched their reactions and started laughing. Hard. This was the best reaction he'd had all day! This job kinda sucked, but he wasn't gonna lie, it had its advantages.  
Kaiba scowled at the man and moved on, grabbing Yami's hand instinctively to lead him past the little retarded show. Yami blushed, trying to avoid looking at Kaiba. His hand was still wrapped lightly around his own, alleviating his fears.  
They walked in silence for a little while before Kaiba stopped and sighed, turning towards the Pharaoh.  
"So, do you have any clue how to get out of here? If not, I know a trick. But it may take awhile." Kaiba said, realizing slowly that their hands were still touching and dropping the hold like hot coals, clearing his throat awkwardly.  
"No, sorry. What's your trick?"  
"Well, you put your hand on the right wall and keep going until you reach the end." He said. Yami pondered the method for a moment before he came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, logical. In fact, he wished he'd known that while fighting the paradox brothers. It would have helped assist him in finding his way through the maze faster.  
"Okay." Was all he said, walking forward to follow Kaiba.  
Kaiba led the way through the maze gracefully, with the Pharaoh right on his heels the entire time.  
At one point, one of them stepped on some kind of a hidden trigger, sending a burst of steam out of the ground and startling Yami. Kaiba backed himself up against the wall, but Yami froze, unable to move through the fear and shock. Kaiba darted forward quickly to grab Yami and pulled him back against him until the steam stopped.  
Yami blushed and looked up at Kaiba through his eyelashes. Kaiba reached down to remove a strand of hair from his face, feeling his shiver from the touch.  
Even if Yami hated Kaiba, he could still appreciate someone who comforted him in his fear.  
He cleared his throat loudly and stepped away, his face blazing red as his common sense returned to him. This was Kaiba! His arch enemy! What was he doing letting him get all up close and peronal?!  
The continued to walk on and on into the seemingly endless night, Yami forcing his feet to shuffle through the fear.  
"Okay, are we lost?" He finally asked Kaiba, stopping to a stand still.  
"No, we're fine." Kaiba snapped, a tint of annoyance leaking into his voice. "I know how to get through a maze, okay?"  
"Not fast." The Pharaoh mumbled, and Kaiba whipped around. They were facing each other now, and Kaiba was glaring arrows.  
"I have a perfectly good way of getting out of these stupid things, if you think you could do much better, then maybe you should find your way out by yourself."  
"Maybe I will!"The Pharaoh shouted, without even thinking.  
"Fine then." Kaiba spat, turning away and beginning to walk in the other direction. Yami panicked. He couldn't be all alone in the dark, not with no way to get out. He'd had bad experiences with the dark, bad dreams and actual monsters. The darkness had turned him twisted and evil, and he never wanted to be there again. He had reasons to be afraid of the dark. He had to make Kaiba stay.  
So he did the only thing he could think of.  
He kissed him.  
He reached out blindly and grabbed Kaiba's shoulder, spinning him around before quickly stepping forward and putting his arms around Kaiba's neck. He quickly pressed their lips together heatedly, savoring the warmth against his own lips.  
Kaiba returned the kiss at first, not really sure what was happening but feeling the clear heat and desperation in it. Soon though, he was kissing for a different reason all together.  
Both of them could feel their blazing hot connection, even stronger than the fear that Yami felt. Kaiba's lips seemed to sear all of that away...  
Kaiba gathered his sense long enough to push Yami away, shoving the offender up against the wall, rage radiating through his form.  
Yami had no right to do something like that. To invade his body space with his warmth, and his oh-so-kissable lips...  
Kaiba glared at Yami's lips for a moment and he couldn't help himself. He leaned down to press them together roughly, the heat rowing even more than before.  
Yami was expecting some sort of remark and maybe a bit of violence, so the kiss was extremely surprising to him. Kaiba and him shared a connection, but he'd never really seen it before now. Much less would he have expected for Kaiba to see it, too.  
It was like finding Carmen Sandiego; you never felt like anyone else was going to find her, because it had been so difficult for you to. Although, Yami was happy and excited rather than upset that he wasn't the only one special enough to find Carmen Sandiego.  
Joey was beginning to become worried. Although it wasn't technically Yuugi out there, it was still bothering him that it was taking so long. The Pharaoh and Yuugi shared a body, one that would get hungry eventually. One that could get harmed in multiple ways...  
As more time passed, the more anxious Joey became. He began to pace back and forth, and the morale of the entire group was dropping rapidly.  
"What are they doing, killing each other or something?" Marik complained, glancing at Bakura. He was masking his true worry over everything that was happening. If they really were killing each other, they were kind of screwed. Bakura knew exactly what Marik was thinking and rolled his eyes at his worry, although he himself was a little doubtful of the plan.  
"It'll be fine." Bakura growled. "Plus, I'm about ninety percent sure that they wouldn't risk going to prison."  
"What about Yami? He has to deal with the public school system, that's obviously worse!" Marik declared, and Bakura couldn't help but chuckle a little. Marik never ceased to amuse him, even when he wasn't necessarily trying to be funny.  
"Yuugi is the one that has to deal with school, Marik. Relax." Bakura purred, putting his hands on Marik's shoulders. Marik sighed and relaxed, feeling Bakura begin to rub small circles in between his shoulder blades.  
Bakura continued to rub small circles, feeling Marik's tattoo through his shirt.  
After a few minutes, though, Marik became uncomfortable with having his back touched.  
He shrugged Bakura off and took a small step forwards, crossing his arms over his chest. Bakura tried not to be hurt by it, reminding himself that it was only because of what all Marik had been through. He was extremely sensitive on his back, and almost never let anybody else touch it. Ever. The fact that he had actually let Bakura touch him for as long as he had showed what an immense amount of trust he had for his companion.  
His Lover.  
"Fine, if everybody's so worried, I'll go into the maze and find them myself. If nothing's happened by now, nothing will happen." Mokuba declared.  
Joey relaxed some, happy that they weren't going to be alone and helpless any longer. He was always worried about Yuugi, because he seemed so fragile at times. Now don't get me wrong, Joey knew that Yuugi was strong and could take care of himself, he just didn't want him to have to.  
Then again, nothing was likely to happen. This was a maze, for crying out loud. Joey was being an over reactive dork. As per usual.  
Mokuba walked into the maze, carrying a flashlight. He pressed the button for the locator that Kaiba had given him, and heard a distant beeping somewhere far off. It was a good thing that his brother was an overprotective mother hen.  
The beeping began to slowly increase as he worked his way through the maze, signalling that he was close to his brother.  
Mokuba took a few steps and got a huge burst of sound. Wow, Kaiba was close! He began to run and rounded a corner, coming within five feet of the happy couple.  
Mokuba shrieked, covering his eyes. He certainly didn't expect to come around the corner and find this happening! Not his brother, in the middle of a lip-lock!  
Kaiba heard his brother's shrill voice and broke away from Yami, clearing his throat loudly.  
"I'm scarred for LIFE!" Mokuba declared. Seto facepalmed and shook his head slowly.  
"Mokuba, you can open your eyes now." He said flatly. The Pharaoh blushed, looking intensely down at the ground as he felt his face burning.  
How could his feelings change so drastically with just one kiss? Suddenly, it wasn't hatred that he felt for Kaiba, but more like... passion. Two emotions so easily connected that it was easy to get them confused.  
"Are you two done?" Mokuba asked flatly.  
"Yes." Kaiba sighed. Mokuba dropped his hands, smirking slightly.  
"Follow me out of the maze." He commanded, turning around and beginning to lead the way. Kaiba hoped desperately that there wasn't going to be tension between him and his brother.  
"Listen Mokuba, I know you're surprised." Kaiba started, but he was interrupted by Mokuba, who had just taken the last turn out of the maze and turned to smirk at him.  
"Oh, I'm not surprised." He said. "You and Yami getting together was supposed to happen. I just wasn't prepared to experience it firsthand."  
The others tuned in on the conversation, relieved that the plans had gone smoothly. Why else would Mokuba be talking like that?  
"What do you mean, Yami and I were supposed to get together?" Kaiba asked with a small growl of frustration. Kaiba knew that his brother had been constantly trying to set him up with various people for awhile now, but this was ridiculous! He hadn't even come out of the closet to him yet.  
"Why don't you come back to the apartment with Marik and I and we'll tell you everything?" Bakura offered.  
Kaiba shook his head yes after only a moments deliberation. He was curious to see what had happened to cause this. Of course, he wouldn't typically go with these losers, but... Yami was going to be there.  
They all climbed into Kaiba's limo, eager for the celebration that would ensue.


	11. Seat Belts and Irony

I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, I started a new story and it's controlling my life. I've been typing for two days and I already have 15,000 words. I am proud. Well, here ya go.

I DONT OWN YUGIOH!

~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 11~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Bakura and Marik sat close to each other in the back seat, Bakura himself feeling the leather help to keep him in place as the driver made some sharper turns. Bakura turned his head when he felt a light warmth nuzzle his neck, and he gave a small smirk when he realized that it was from Marik leaning on him. He gave a sigh of happiness, making the hair on Bakura's neck stand up as the warm air brushed across his cold skin.  
"We did it, Fluffy." Marik sighed.  
"I'm not a kitty, but yes. Yes we did." Bakura said, but it didn't hold its usual fever. He reached a hand up to run his fingers gently through Marik's hair.  
Marik pulled away and Bakura looked at him, dragging his eyebrows together in a sign of confusion. Bakura wasn't sure if he'd done something wrong.  
"Well, are you going to kiss me or not?"  
Bakura smirked, scooting over in his seat to lean forward. Marik did the same, playing along until...  
Marik quickly darted into another seat, too quick and quiet for Bakura to have noticed. Bakura kept leaning forward before he suddenly dropped, face landing flat on the leather seat. He sat up as quickly as possible and looked around in confusion, eyes narrowing suspiciously when they finally found Marik, who he'd found to be sitting in the row of seats across from him.  
"You'll have to catch me first." He said playfully, batting his eyelashes.  
Bakura straightened up when they locked eyes, coiling his muscles in preparation to pounce. He lunged, landing where Marik had been just a second before. He looked up quicker this time, pleasantly surprised that Marik had been fast enough to dodge his attack. He immediately locked on target again and boosted his speed, certain that Marik would have his downfall.  
But somehow, he was able to dodge again.  
This happened two more times, each time with Marik barely avoiding capture. The final time though, Bakura faked Marik out, tensing his muscles like he was going to lunge and actually beginning to before he stopped himself. Marik thought that Bakura had lunged and he quickly switched seats, looking back to where he had previously been. Confusion shone in his eyes when he saw that Bakura wasn't there, quickly turning to slight fear when he realized what had happened.  
It was too late.  
Bakura lunged, pinning Marik down to the seat. Marik shrieked before he began to laugh, trying to lift his pinned arms to throw Bakura off.  
"Naughty kitty." Marik chided playfully, batting his eyelashes up at Bakura.  
"You tempted me. What was naughty about that?" Bakura asked.  
"Well, neither of you are wearing your seat belts!" Joey responded sarcastically. Bakura rolled his eyes and ignored the comment, concentrating on keeping Marik from getting back up or throwing him off. Marik gave up struggling and relaxed, looking at Bakura shyly and parting his lips the slightest bit.  
Bakura saw the clear invitation and leaned in gently. Marik felt anticipation coil in his stomach like a snake when Bakura's lips just barely brushed up against his for a moment before suddenly disappearing. Bakura sat back in their original seat with a smirk, buckling his seat belt.  
"Safety first." Bakura whispered with a wink.  
Marik sat there for a moment, absolutely flabbergasted. He was dizzy from how close Bakura had been, and then Bakura just left him like that!  
"Thanks for the seat belt tip!" Bakura called to Joey sarcastically, and Joey laughed from further up in the cab.  
Marik decided that it was high time they had an actual kiss to celebrate, so he wanted to surprise Bakura. Marik pounced on Bakura, pinning him down. Since he was in the seat belt, he (ironically) couldn't do anything about the situation. His eyes widened in surprise once he realized his predicament.  
"I think it's high time we had a real kiss." Marik said smoothly. Bakura wasn't really listening due to the fact that the seat belt was digging into his back, plus he was wondering if he'd ever learn his lesson about being a sarcastic idiot.  
Which meant that he wasn't expecting anything.  
Marik swooped down and wasted no time in pressing their lips together firmly, melting into the kiss. Bakura froze up for a moment before shivering and relaxing, reaching a hand up to run his fingers through Marik's hair.  
Marik broke away, taking a deep breath. Bakura smirked and leaned upward again, bringing their lips back for another kiss.  
Poor little Mokuba chose just that time to turn back and see the scene that was unfolding. He shrieked again and turned back towards the window, ears turning bright red. He'd seen quite enough of two people kissing for today, thank you very much.  
"We're here." Kaiba called reluctantly as he got out, letting Marik lead the way back to his apartment.  
He opened the door quickly, hoping to get the entire explanation over with as soon as possible. However, he was not expecting a surprise visitor to be standing in his living room.  
Marik rounded the corner into his comfy little living area and almost had a heart attack.  
"HOLY FRIG!" He exclaimed, jumping into Bakura's arms like scooby doo jumped into Shaggy's. Standing before them was Shadi, looking grim.  
"I am here to warn you of another problem." Shadi said, turning around and walking over to the couch. To Marik's utmost surprise, Ishizu was sitting there, too.  
"Can't we catch a break?" Bakura mumbled, setting Marik back onto the floor gently. The answer was, of course, no.  
They all walked over to squeeze onto Marik's two couched, a couple of people grabbing chairs from the bar where Marik ate and pulling them into the circle so there would be enough room. Even Kaiba and Yami went, sitting next to each other.  
"Listen, all of you." She stated, "My necklace has detected a fault in your plan. You may have succeeded in getting Kaiba and Yami into a relationship, but they will never succeed." She said.  
"Well thanks for the vote of confidence." Yami said sarcastically.  
"LET ME FINISH." Ishizu commanded sharply. "Their relationship will never succeed unless Yami and Yuugi receive separate bodies. Kaiba and Yami's relationship would take too much time to maintain. Yuugi has things he needs to do. Like school, and maintaining his own relationship."  
"Yuugi and I can have our own bodies?" Yami asked hopefully. Bakura sat up straight, suddenly interested. If Yami and Yuugi could, did that mean that he and Ryou could be separated?  
"That is where I come in." Shadi said, stepping forward eagerly. "There is one way. You see, there is a legend from ancient times about a cave that, said you go in, will take you right into a room with a golden fountain. If you drink from it, you'll split your soul and give yourself two separate bodies. Since your soul is already split in a way, we could hope that it would just give you separate bodies." Shadi said.  
"So, would it work for myself and Ryou?" Bakura asked, no longer able to contain the curiosity nagging at his mind.  
"Yes. The problem is this: The fountain is considered too powerful, so it was locked away for only the Pharaoh to use. It takes the power of three combined millennium items; ironically enough, the puzzle, the ring, and the rod."  
"The fountain is located off of a small town in Egypt, but we aren't sure of the exact locations. You'll have to investigate to figure that out."Ishizu put in, placing a hand lightly on her necklace.  
"Couldn't you come with us and help, Shadi?" Yami asked. Shadi shook his head no and snorted, looking as amused as someone that serious possibly could.  
"I have better things to do than to come along and help you three." He said, smirking. "Plus, have you taken a look at me lately? It would take hours for airport security to let me through."  
"It's probably the turban." Marik said pointedly. A thought struck him and he turned to Shadi curiously. "How are we supposed to pay for the flight?"  
All the eyes in the room turned towards Kaiba.  
"All right, I'll pay for it." He grumbled, "But not to help out Bakura and Marik. Only because I don't want Yami to go back to hating me."  
Marik gave a long sigh of relief. Thank god they were going to be able to do this. He couldn't lose Bakura; he just couldn't. Bakura reached over and squeezed Marik's hand a little in reassurance. Things would work out for them. They always did, eventually.  
"Where's the city?" Joey asked.  
"It's in Cecelia." Ishizu replied.  
"Wait, isn't that the name of Pegasus's dead cover u- er, I mean, wife?" Marik asked.  
"Yes. There was a time that Pegasus was looking into the well and he fell in love with a place, buying it quickly." Ishizu responded, a little bit proud of her brother for making that connection.  
"Wait, why would Pegasus be interested in the well?"  
"He was hoping to make a copy of Channing Tatum for himself."  
"Go figure." Bakura mumbled, rolling his eyes.  
"So, when do we leave?I need to know when to buy plane tickets for." Kaiba said, looking at the Pharaoh.  
"Let's set a goal for three days."The Pharaoh answered happily. He was actually excited for this. Not only would he be able to come back with his own body, but he would probably have fun with Joey on the way there, and he'd have Yuugi on the way back!  
Then again, Yuugi was probably going to be in control for most of the way there.  
Kaiba shook his head to confirm that, taking out his phone and silently tapping away, getting things arranged as quickly as humanly possible.  
Kaiba was never one to procrastinate on getting things done. If there was a problem, he'd solve it quickly and as simply as he was able to.  
"Alright, I have the tickets and a hotel registered. I assume the ones going will be Marik, Bakura, Joey, Yuugi, Serenity, Trystan, and myself. We'll need two extra seats for the way back."  
"Sounds good, but what about me and Tea?" Mokuba asked. His brother paused, considering.  
"I suppose you two could come, but you're staying out of the magic business." Kaiba said sternly. " I don't want you to end up mixed up in all of this."  
"Yay!" Mokuba exclaimed happily. Mokuba had never had much of a motherly figure ever since their parents passed, and he couldn't remember his mother much in the first place. He had Seto tell him stories about her sometimes, but he was busy and didn't like to talk about her much.  
Due to that, Mokuba had attached himself to Tea. Even if Seto tried, he couldn't provide Mokuba with a motherly figure, and Tea fit the bill perfectly. Plus, it's not like Tea minded. Mokuba was a behaved child, (despite being extremely manipulative at times, a trait he had surely acquired from hanging around his older brother) and therefore extremely easy and fun to take care of. She didn't really feel responsible for how he grew up, so taking care of him was more fun than actual babysitting.  
"Alright, but my sister stays out of it too." Joey said stubbornly. His sister would probably just be hanging around Trystan the entire time anyways.  
Now the only problem would be convincing his father to let him go.  
He'd have trouble with getting his Father to let him go to Duel Competitions, but those had prize money that could be used to help Serenity with all of the hospital bills she had because of constant check-ups. And as much as their father pretended not to, he still cared. For Serenity, anyways.  
Joey felt responsible for keeping his father in home, because he didn't work. Joey didn't like to talk about it, but his father was a raging alcoholic, and would sometimes get a little violent after one too many. He'd lost count of how many empty (Or occasionally half-full) beer bottles had been thrown at him from across the room.  
He'd have to wait until his father was in a good mood to ask. That would probably be after a heavy dose of alcohol.


End file.
